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HEROES 



OF THE EARLY CHURCH 



Rev. Richard Newton, D.D. 

AUTHOR OF 

" ITkroes of the Reformation," " Illustrated Rambles in Bible 
Lands," "Pearls from the East." etc., etc. 




PHILADELPHIA : 

THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
1122 CHESTNUT STREET. 



8 & 10 Bible House, New York. 
[Copyright by The American Sunday-School Union, 1888.] 



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PREFATORY NOTE. 



These graphic sketches of the " Heroes of the 
Early Church " are the latest series penned by the 
distinguished author, whom Spurgeon fittingly called 
" The Prince of Children's Preachers." The sketches 
are in many respects the best work of the gifted man. 
As he ripened in saintship for heaven, his literary 
style became even more rich with the aroma of the 
gospel, and so more forcible, simple and crisp than in 
his earlier writings. 

The articles were originally prepared for The 
Youth's World, and were issued in that periodical. 
The revision and preparation of them for publica- 
tion in this form has been an easy and delightful 
task. Indeed, so carefully did Dr. Newton prepare 
his copy for the press that little was required to be 
done beyond the omission of some repetitions of state- 
ment, necessarily incident to serial articles in a peri- 
odical. Dr. Newton had planned another series on 
the " Heroes of the Modern Church," to follow these, 
but was compelled by ill health to give up writing 
them. Yet he continued to work so diligently that 
the last article from his pen was written for the num- 
ber of The Youth's World which appeared the month 
after his death. He was conscious that the "Mas- 



vi ' Prefatory Note, 

ter's call " might come suddenly to him. In view of 
this sudden " translation," he committed to me the 
work of revising and issuing these sketches in a per- 
manent form. With great regret he gave up the 
continuance of the series he had intended, as this note 
shows : 

"Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, 

" April 9, 1887, 
"Rev. E. W. Eice, D.D.: 

" My Bear Brother — I return the enclosed papers to you, and am very 
sorry to be obliged to say that it will not be in my power to go on with 
the new course of articles on ' The Heroes of the Modern Church.' . . . 
I am greatly interested in this work, and should like nothing better than 
to go on with it if I could. But this is impossible." 

A week later came another letter : 

" Your kind letter of yesterday is received. I never did anything in 
my life more reluctantly than to write the letter sent you the other day 
about discontinuing the articles on ' The Heroes of the Modern Church.' 
I have always considered it one of my highest privileges to be connected 
with the American Sunday-School Union in the noble work it is doing 
for the glory of God and for the good of men. 

"And nothing but a sense of absolute necessity would ever have in- 
duced me to take this step." 

Two weeks later there came another letter, show- 
ing the sweet submission and strong hope of the 
Christian in the deepest sorrow : 

"April 30, 1887. 
"My Dear Brother Rice: 

"... I have been passing through deep waters for the last few weeks 

in the loss of my dear wife, after we had journeyed on together in the 

pilgrimage of life for half a century. All life's other trials seemed light 

in comparison with this. And yet I never felt the power and precious- 

ness of the gospel as I have done in going through this trial." 

Then came a final note, in his own hand, written 
from his bed of sickness, from whence he soon after 
passed to the better land. 



Prefatory Note, vii 









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viii Prefatory Note, 

A few days later on, May 25, 1887, in his seventy- 
fifth year, Dr. Newton departed to be with Christ. 

The gifted author has sketched the characters of 
these " Heroes of the Early Church " with a loving, 
vigorous and graphic pen, which will give young 
Christian readers of to-day a vivid impression of the 
greatness and goodness of the men who labored and 
sacrificed their lives in the early extension and 
strengthening of our common evangelical faith. 

Edwin W. Kice. 
Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 1888. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. Clement of Eome 11 

II. Ignatius of Antioch .25 

III. Polycarp of Smyrna 40 

IV. Justin Martyr .59 

V. Irenseus of Lyons. 74 

VI. Clement of Alexandria. . , . . .91 

VII. Tertullian of Carthage 105 

VIII. Origen of Alexandria 120 

IX. Cyprian of Carthage. 136 

X. Eusebius of Caesarea. . . . . .149 

XI. Athanasius the Great 165 

XII. Julian the Apostate. 188 

XIII. Basil the Great 200 

XIV. Ambrose of Milan 213 

XV. John Chrysostom 228 

XVI. Jerome. . . . . . . . .241 

XVII. Augustine of Numidia. .... 255 

XVIII. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. . . .271 

XIX. Columba, the Apostle of Scotland. . . 281 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Antioch. ...... Frontispiece. 

S. Clemens Romanus, .... 13 

Koman Scourging and Beating with Eods, . . 22 

S. Ignatius Antiochenus, .... 24 

Antioch in Sjria, (After Cassas.) . . .29 

S. Polycarpus, ..... 41 

Smyrna, the home of Polycarp, . . . .47 

S. Justinus Martyr, ... * . 58 
Shechem in Palestine. The birthplace of Justin Martyr, 63 

S. Irenseus, . . . . . .77 

S. Clemens Alexandrinus, . . . . 90 

Ancient Alexandria (Map), . . . .97 

Tertullianus, ..... 109 

Origen, . . . . . . . 127 

Coliseum at Pome, . . . . . 137 

View of Eome from the slope of the Capitoline Hill, . 141 

Puins of Csesarea, ..... 150 

Obelisks as they were at Alexandria, . . . 177 

Modern Athens, ..... 189 

Acropolis at Athens, as it was, . . . . 189 

Work on the Temple at Jerusalem stopped, . 197 

Constantinople and the Bosphorus, . . . 240 

View of Bethlehem, . . . , . 244 



HEROES 
OF' THE EARLY CHURCH, 



CHAPTER I. 

CLEMENT OF HOME. 

BORN A. D. 30 (?); DIED A. D. 100 (?). 

We now propose to study the history 

and character of some of the Heroes in 

the earHest ages of the Christian Church. 

We will begin with the first century of 

the Christian era. The good man whose 

name stands at the head of this chapter 

was the friend and companion of the 

great apostles Peter and Paul. Origen 

says he is mentioned by Paul in his epistle 

to the Philippians. In the fourth chapter 

and the third verse of this epistle the 

(11) 



1 2 Heroes of the Early Church^, 

apostle is sending a message to some 
member of that church, and he beseeches 
him to " help those women which labored 
with me in the gospel, with Clement also, 
and with other my fellow laborers, whose 
names are in the book of life.'' -Here, 
perhaps, we have the good man whose 
story we are now sketching brought be- 
fore us. 

As we study the principal facts in his 
life he comes before us as an example of 
four important practical lessons. 

I. Clement of Rome was an example of 
earnestness i7t seeking for the truth. He 
was born in the first century of the Chris- 
tian era. Of course in his early education 
he was only taught about the gods whom 
the heathen worshipped. But this teach- 
ing did not satisfy him. The great ques- 
tion which troubled him was, " Will my 
soul live after the death of my body?" 
He wished to know if there was any au- 
thority for believing in the immortality of 
the soul. He made up his mind never to 
rest till this question was settled. But his 
heathen teachers could give him no satis- 




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STCLEMEM ROMAJiUS, 



Clement, 15 

faction upon this subject. After hearing 
all they had to say, he studied diligently 
the teachings of the Roman and Egyptian 
philosophers ; but they had nothing to tell 
that gave him any help in settling this 
important question. Still he determined 
not to give the matter up. 

Then he heard that the Son of God had 
come down from heaven to give light on 
these great subjects. This encouraged 
him to go on with his inquiries, in the hope 
that he should at last find out the truth 
about this matter. 

Soon after this, tradition says that he 
became acquainted with the apostle Bar- 
nabas at Rome. He followed him to 
Alexandria, and then to Judaea. At Jer- 
usalem, Barnabas introduced him to the 
apostle Peter. Peter gave him all the 
information he had so lonor been seekino- 
for, about the soul and its salvation. The 
true doctrine of eternal life was made 
clear to him. Thus he was brought to the 
Saviour, and was baptized and joined the 
church. 

2. Clement of Rome comes before us as 



1 6 H 67^06 s of the Early Chu7xh. 

an example of hufmlity. And here let me 
say that in handHng these far-off histories, 
it is often very difficult to get the actual 
facts. Outside the Bible there is no au- 
thentic history of this early age of the 
Church. It is only the voice of tradition 
that speaks to us on the part of Clement's 
career now before us. What this voice 
says is that when the apostle Peter knew 
that his days were drawing to an end, and 
that the time of his departure was at hand, 
he was very anxious to have a suitable 
person selected to take his place as the 
head of the church at Rome. His inti- 
mate acquaintance with Clement satisfied 
him that he was better adapted for that 
position than any one else he knew. So 
he called a council of the church and 
urp-ed Clement on their attention as the 
best person to occupy the important office 
of bishop of their church. 

The t^xmbishop is used in these sketches, 
in the New Testament sense, where the 
word episcopos or overseer is applied, and 
not as implying all that in these modern 
days is connected with the term bishop. 



Clement. 1 7 

3. We have in Clement of Rome an ex- 
ample of activity 171 doing good. He did 
good by promoting peace. When the 
Christian church was first estabHshed at 
Rome, it was a divided church. There 
was one branch known as the Jewish 
church and another as the Gentile church; 
but under the influence of the peace-loving 
spirit of this good bishop, the prejudices 
then existing were softened down, and the 
two parties became one. 

Clement had been intimately connected 
with the church at Corinth. After he was 
made bishop he heard that there was a 
very bitter strife in that church, growing 
out of the parties into which it had been 
divided. This distressed him very much ; 
and here his love of peace came into play 
again. In the hope of allaying that bitter 
strife, and bring the opposing parties there 
together in unity, he wrote his fajnous 
epistle to the Corinthian church. This 
epistle was written in such an humble, gen- 
tle, loving spirit that it subdued the bitter- 
ness of the strife existing there, and acted 
on the disturbed church of Corinth very 



1 8 Heroes of the Early Church, 

much as oil acts when poured on the sur- 
face of the troubled waters. 

This epistle in its language and spirit is 
so very much like the epistle to the He- 
brews that the members of the early 
Church regarded it as almost equal to the 
inspired writings, and for the first three 
centuries of the Christian era it used to 
be read in the churches, very much 
as the Scriptures were. Then it was lost 
to the Church for many centuries, but was 
discovered again between two hundred 
and three hundred years ago. Let us all 
follow the example of Clement as a lover 
of peace. 

Again he did good by trying to spread 
abroad the gospel, as well as by making 
peace. Tradition tells us that he sent 
ministers to preach the gospel in distant 
regions, where the glad tidings of salva- 
tion . had never been heard ; and the 
amount of good which he accomplished in 
this way will never be known till the great 
day of final judgement. 

4. We have in this " hero of the early 
Church" an example of indomitable courage. 



Clement. 1 9 

There are no historical facts on which we 
can draw to illustrate this part of our sub- 
ject. It is only a late tradition that 
speaks to us here. But the story thus 
given affords a good illustration of the 
courage of this good man. And what 
tradition has to say here is that Clement 
was always trying to use his personal In- 
fluence in such a way as to bring those 
about him who were not Christians to a 
knowledge of Jesus as their Saviour. In 
this way he was the means of the conver- 
sion of a noble lady named Theodora, 
and also of her husband. He was a kins- 
man of the emperor Nerva, and a great 
favorite with him. This led the emperor 
to begin a very severe and cruel perse- 
cution. Clement of Rome did not escape 
this persecution. He was seized and cast 
into prison. When the time of his trial 
came, he had to make his choice between 
sacrificing to the idols of Rome and being 
sent into banishment. And here the cour- 
age of this brave man was well shown : he 
refused to sacrifice to the idols. Then the 
sentence of banishment was issued against 



20 Heroes of the Eaidy Church. 

him. He was sent away from Rome, to a 
far-off place called Cherson. This was a 
little town beyond the Pontic Sea. On 
arriving there, he found those banished 
hke himself were compelled to labor in 
the mines. They had to endure the se- 
verest labor and the most terrible hard- 
ships. They were whipped and beaten 
and chained ; their heads were half shaved, 
their right eyes bored out, their left legs 
disabled, and disgraceful marks were bran- 
ded on their foreheads ; and in addition to 
all this, they were exposed to hunger and 
thirst and cold and nakedness. Clement 
found great numbers of Christians there 
condemned to all these miseries with him- 
self. They were delighted to have so 
noble a Christian as he was to be their 
companion in suffering. Then he began 
to hold services and to preach the gospel 
to them after their day's work was done. 
Many of the heathen people from the 
surrounding country attended these ser- 
vices. Great numbers of them were con- 
verted. Before long the heathen temples 
in that region were deserted. 



Clement, 2 1 

"When the emperor heard of this, he 
sent an officer to stop this Christian work 
by persecution. But, finding that putting 
the common people to death did not stop 
the work from going on, he resolved to 
to make an example of one of the leading 
men among them ; so Clement was chosen 
for this purpose. He had to make his 
choice between renouncing his religion 
and being put to death. Here again he 
displayed the same courage which had an- 
imated him before. He refused to give 
up his religion. Then he was condemned 
to death. He was put on board a small 
vessel and carried far off from the shore. 
A heavy stone (or, according to another 
account, an anchor) was fastened to his 
feet, and he was plunged into the depths 
of the sea. Such, tradition says, was the 
end of this "hero of the early Church." 

But when we think of Clement of Rome, 
let us remember the four good lessons 
taught us by his example — the lesson of 
earnestness in seeking for the truth, the 
lesson of humility, the lesson of usefulness, 
and the lesson of courage— and let us try 



2 2 Heroes of the Early Chii^rch. 

to Imitate his example In these respects, 
and then God's blessing will rest upon us, 
and we shall be successful In our life- 
work. 




EOMAN SCOUEGING AND BEATING WITH RODS. 



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\S7lGWATIUS AKTIOCHEKUS. 



CHAPTER II. 

IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH. 

BORN A. D. 30 (?); DIED A. D. 107 TO 117 (?). 

We come now to consider Ignatius the 
second in our list of heroes of the early 
Church. 

About the exact time and place of the 
birth of Ignatius, and his parentage, we 
have no certain knowledge, and therefore 
on these points we shall not attempt to 
say anything. Only this remark may be 
made : that if the statement Is correct 
which represents him to have been about 
eighty years of age when he died, and if 
that event took place in the year ii6 or 
117, then he must have been born between 
the years 30 and 40 of the Christian era. 

Ignatius always used to speak of him- 
self as Ignatius Theophortis. This is a 
Greek word which means being borne or 

(25) 



26 Heroes of the Early CJmrch, 

carried by God. And every one who Is 
trying to be a true Christian may well be 
thus spoken of. For we are clearly taught 
In the Bible that God's everlastlnor arms 
are under all his followers, and his shelter- 
ing wings are over them. 

It has been reported that Ignatius was 
the very child that our Saviour took up In 
his arms when he wished to teach his dis- 
ciples the great lesson that they must be 
converted and become as little children If 
they wished to be his true followers. It 
would be an Interesting circumstance in 
the history of this good man If we could 
know that this was a fact ; but this cannot 
be known, and so we merely refer to the 
circumstance and pass It by. 

Ignatius In his earlier years had the 
privilege of receiving Instruction from 
the apostles Peter and Paul. He not only 
heard them preach In public, but was also 
favored with their more familiar teachings 
In private. While thus Intimate with the 
apostles just mentioned, he tells us him- 
self, that he was the disciple of the apostle 
John. Under the instruction of these 



Ignatius of Antioch. 2 7 

great and good men he was taught " the 
truth as it is in Jesus"; and then, in view 
of the thorough knowledge he had of the 
gospel, as well as of his great piety and 
the excellent gifts which God had be- 
stowed upon him, he was chosen by the 
apostles to be the head and ruler of the 
church in the city of Antioch. This is a 
city which has had a very interesting and 
important history. It was founded about 
three hundred years before Christ, and is 
situated on the river Orontes, sixteen 
miles from the Mediterranean Sea. It 
stands on a beautiful plain surrounded by 
ranges of mountains. The temples and 
palaces of Antioch were of the very finest 
kind. A wide avenue ran through the 
centre of the city, about four miles long, 
on either side of which was a covered way 
supported by marble columns. Antioch 
was one of the most famous cities of the 
East. The rulers and great men of Syria 
made it their headquarters. It was at the 
height of its prosperity in the days of Ig- 
natius, and we are told that it then had 
a population of four hundred thousand 



28 Heroes of the Early Church. 

inhabitants. One of the things of great- 
est interest to us in the history of this city 
is that the disciples of our blessed Lord 
"were first called Christians at Antioch." 

It has been nearly destroyed a number 
of times by earthquakes, and is now only 
a small city, with a population of not over 
ten thousand. 

But this famous city was the scene of 
the labors of Ignatius for about forty 
years ; and in the studying of the history 
of this good man's life, we find illustra- 
tions of four lessons which it is very im- 
portant for us all to learn. 

I. The lesson of practical wisdom. To 
know just what to do and how to do it, is 
the grand secret of success in all our life- 
work. This secret Ignatius posessed. 
The times in which he lived were times of 
persecution, trial, and difficulty. His po- 
sition, at the head of the church at Anti- 
och, was like that of a pilot steering his 
vessel through a dangerous channel, 
where rocks on one hand and shoals on the 
other are constantly presenting the danger 
of shipwreck. When false teachers were 



Ignatius of Antioch. 3 1 

engaged in efforts to spread abroad erro- 
neous doctrines, he sought in every way to 
guard his people against these dangers by 
simple, earnest and untiring statements of 
the truth as God had revealed it in his 
word. Thus the members of his church 
were preserved from the dangers to which 
they were exposed, and were helped to 
cling faithfully to the truths of the gospel 
in spite of the errors that were then pre- 
vailing. And when the days of persecu- 
tion came upon the church, he was untir- 
ing in his efforts to strengthen those who 
were weak, to encourage those who were 
depressed, to point them all to that Al- 
mighty Arm on which they were permitted 
to lean, and to tell them of that omnipo- 
tent grace which would be sufficent for 
them in every time of need, and would 
bring them off at last more than conquer- 
ors through him who had loved them and 
given himself for them. 

And when we think how successful this 
hero of the early Church was in finding 
out just what he ought to do amidst the 
perplexities that attended his path, and in 



32 Heroes of the Eaidy Church. 

securing the help and guidance which en- 
abled him for so many years to do all that 
his important and responsible position 
made it his duty to do, we may learn a 
useful lesson for ourselves ; for the same 
wisdom which guided him to see what he 
ought to do, and the same grace which en- 
abled him to do it, is just what we need, 
and just what God will give us if we seek 
it from him, as Ignatius did. 

2. The life of this good man teaches us 
the lesson of patient endurance. Trajan, 
the Roman emperor, visited Antioch early 
in the second century of the Christian era. 
He had just gained a great victory over 
the Scythians and the Dacians, and was 
preparing for a war with the Parthians 
and the Armenians. He entered the city 
with great pomp and parade. One of his 
armies had been defeated by the Chris- 
tians in another part of his empire. This 
made him very angry. He began to per- 
secute the Christians in different places ; 
and while staying in Antioch, he made 
special inquiries about what the Christians 
there were doing. Ignatius thought it 



Ignatius of Antioch. 33 

best to call on the emperor and converse 
with him on this subject. They talked 
freely about the different religions of the 
world. Ignatius was honest and faithful 
in what he said. He told the emperor 
what the Christian religion was and where 
it came from. He said there was but 
one true God, and that is the God whom 
the Christians worship. He declared that 
the Christian religion would surely in the 
end overturn all other religions, and fill 
the whole world. This made the emperor 
very angry. He resolved at once to per- 
secute the Christians in Antioch and all 
through Syria. He began this persecution 
by ordering Ignatius to be cast into prison. 
This was done at once, and the good man 
was subject to the most severe and un- 
merciful treatment. He was whipped 
with scourges which had leaden bullets at 
the end of them. He was forced to hold 
fire in his naked hands, while the sides of 
his body were burnt with paper dipped in 
oil. His feet were placed on burning 
coals, while the flesh was torn off from his 
limbs with red-hot pincers. 



34 Heroes of the Early Church. 

But he bore all this without a murmur. 
His tormentors looked on with astonish- 
ment at his perfect endurance. They could 
not understand It. But when the emperor 
saw that no amount of torture could make 
any Impression on this heroic man, he 
pronounced the sentence of death upon 
him, and ordered that he should be bound 
In chains ; and appointed a company of 
ten soldiers to conduct him to Rome, 
where he was to be thrown as a prey to 
the wild beasts. 

And now some of our readers may be 
ready to ask, "Well, how did Ignatius 
bear all this ? Did his patient endurance 
continue?" It did; for when he heard of 
the cruel decree which the emperor had 
pronounced against him, these were the 
words he uttered : " I thank thee, O Lord, 
that thou hast been pleased thus perfectly 
to honor me with thy love, and hast 
thought me worthy, with thy holy apostle 
Paul, to be bound with Iron chains." 
Then we are told that he cheerfully em- 
braced his chains, and having prayed ear- 
nestly for his church, and commended It 



Ignatius of Antioch. 35 

with tears to the divine care and protec- 
tion, he delivered himself into the hands 
of the soldiers appointed to transport him 
to the place of execution. 

Surely Ignatius was a hero ! How 
wonderful the grace of God was that 
could enable him to exertise such patient 
endurance ! Let us all seek that grace, 
and it will enable us to endure with the 
same patience any trials that we may 
have to meet. 

3. The third lesson we find illustrated 
in the history of Ignatius is the lesson of 
untiring diligence. It is a long journey 
from Antioch to Rome, even in our days; 
but it was much longer in the days of 
which we are speaking. The question 
has often been asked why Ignatius should 
have been sent so far just to be put to 
death. Many reasons have been sugges- 
ted for it. The most probable motive for 
it may have been that the sight of such a 
well-known person being carried in chains 
to Rome to be devoured by wild beasts, 
for the single reason that he was a Christ- 
ian, might make the people in the coun- 



36 Heroes of the Early Church. 

tries through which he passed unwilling to 
think of becoming Christians, lest they 
might meet with such an end. 

The journey of Ignatius from Antioch 
to Rome was attended with many inci- 
dents which helped to make it interesting. 
In the different towns where he stopped, 
the ministry and members of the churches 
there and from the country around would 
meet together to see and talk with this 
aged servant of Christ who was going to 
meet a martyr's death. They would have 
religious exercises together; they would 
ask his prayers and his blessing, and he 
would ask them to remember his much- 
loved church at Antioch in their prayers. 
Ignatius was an aged man at this time ; 
and when we think of the many years of 
hard labor which had occupied him, we 
should hardly have expected that while 
pursuing such a long journey, and bound 
in chains, he would still keep busily at 
work. Yet this was what he did. When 
they stopped on their journey, he was 
busy writing all t«he time. He wrote to 
his friends at home, the members of the 



Ignatius of Antioch. 2)7 

church for which he had labored so long 
and so faithfully. Then he wrote to the 
churches in the regions of country 
through which he passed, exhorting them 
to be faithful to their Christian calling, 
and entreating them to pray for his 
church at Antioch. Some six or more of 
these epistles have come down to us. 
This is the way in which Polycarp, a dear 
friend of Ignatius, who lived at the same 
time, speaks of these epistles. '' They 
contain," says he, '' instructions and ex- 
hortations to faith and patience, and what- 
ever is necessary to build us up in the 
religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 

And when we think of this ** hero of the 
early Church " working in this way while 
on his last journey to meet a martyr's 
death, we may well speak of him as illus- 
trating beautifully for us the lesson of un- 
tiring diligence. And this is a lesson 
which we should all try to learn and 
practice. 

4. The closing scenes of the life of this 
good man illustrate the triumph of faith. 



38 Heroes of the Early Church. 

When he was approaching Rome, the 
Christians of that city came out to meet 
him. They met him, naturally enough, 
with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow. 
They were delighted to have the presence 
and company of so great and good a 
man ; but this pleasure was greatly mar- 
red when they thought how soon and by 
how painful a death he was to be taken 
from them. 

The authorities of Rome concluded that 
his martyrdom should take place on one 
of their great festivals, so that his punish- 
ment might be more public. Accordingly 
on the 29th of December, in the year 1 16 
or 117, he was brought out into the 
amphitheatre and the lions were let loose 
upon him. They were not long in doing 
their work, but quickly devoured him, and 
left nothing but his bones. These the 
friends who came with him on his journey 
gathered up and carried back to Antioch. 

And thus, as a martyr, Ignatius gave 
the highest testimony to his fidelity to the 
truth of that religion which he had preach- 
ed and practiced. He gloried in his suf- 



Ignatius of Antioch, 39 

ferings. When he looked upon the chains 
that bound him, he called them his jewels 
and ornaments ; and he laid down his life 
with as much ease and comfort as another 
man would put off his clothes. And 
though the death he had to undergo was 
cruel and barbarous, yet the thought of it 
had no more effect upon his mind than the 
dashing of the ocean's waves upon the 
solid rock. These were the last words 
that he spoke, before he was led out to 
the lions : " Let the fire, and the cross, 
and the assaults of the wild beasts, and 
the breaking of bones, come upon me, so 
that I may be with Jesus my blessd 
Saviour. I would rather die for Christ 
than live and reign the sole monarch of 
the whole world." 

Surely in the death of this ''hero of the 
early Church " we have a splendid illus- 
tration of the triumph of faith. 



CHAPTER III. 

POLYCARP OF SMYRNA. 

BORN A. D. 60 TO 80 (?); DIED A. D. 167 TO 169 (?). 

We come now to study the history of 
the third of our heroes of the early 
Church ; and in considering it our atten- 
tion may be given to two leading points : 
these are the facts of Polycarfs life and 
the truths illustrated in them. 

The place of Polycarp's birth is no- 
where definitely stated. It is generally 
supposed, however, that he was born at 
Smyrna, which was the scene of his life's 
labors. The time of his birth is not 
distinctly stated either. At the time of 
his martyrdom, which is said to have 
taken place about the year 167 of the 
Christian era, he declared that he had 
been serving Christ for eighty-six years. 
This doubtless referred not to the years 

(40) 




S. POLYCARPUS^. 



Polycarp of Smyrna, 43 

of his natural life, but to his Christian life, 
or to the years in which he had been 
working for his Saviour. And if we sup- 
pose that he was fifteen to rwenty years 
old when he became a Christian and 
joined the church, then he must have been 
over a hundred years old at the time of 
his death ; and according to this he must 
have been born between the years 60 and 
70 in the first century of the Christian 
era. Early in life he became a disciple of 
the apostle John, and was taught the 
truths of the gospel by him and other 
apostles who had seen and conversed with 
our blessed Lord in the fiesh. 

By the apostle John he was put in charge 
of the church at Smyrna ; and he spent the 
years of his long life in earnest and suc- 
cessful labors for its welfare. 

Smyrna, the scene of Polycarp's minis- 
try, is a famous city in Asia Minor. It 
lies at the head of a gulf of the same 
name. It is an ancient city, founded by 
Theseus in b. c. 131 2, who named it after 
his wife. It has a population of 130,000. 
It is situated on a beautiful plain surround- 



44 Heroes of the Early Church. 

ed by mountains. Its domes and minar- 
ets and tall cypress trees give it a 
splendid appearance. It is generally 
supposed to be the birthplace of Homer, 
the famous Greek poet. Here Polycarp 
lived and labored all the days of his life, 
and here, when the persecution broke out 
under the emperor Marcus Antoninus, he 
ended his course by a martyr's death, 
being burned at the stake, it is said, in the 
year 167 of the Christian era. 

Such are the leading facts In the history 
of this noble hero of the early Church. 

And now let us look at some of the 
lessons which we find illustrated in this 
history. 

There are four of these of which we 
wish to speak. 

I. We have iii Poly car fs Hfe a good 
illustration of the way in which God's 
providence takes care of his people. 
,. Polycarp was born In povety. When he 
was a mere child, he was sold to some 
one for a trifling sum. Now, if you or I 
had seen this poor, ignorant child when 
he was sold Into slavery, how little we 



Polycarp of Smyrna, 45 

should ever have expected to hear of him 
as becoming" a great and useful man in 
the world ! Yet so it was. But how was 
this unexpected result brought about? 
By the wonderful working of God's prov- 
idence. There was a noble Christian 
woman then living in Smyrna whose name 
was Callisto. She had a dream one night 
in which an angel appeared to her. The 
tradition is that the angel told her about 
this child Polycarp, and directed her, in 
the name of God, to send for the child, to 
redeem him from slavery and then take 
him into her own house and have him 
educated. She did so, and in that good 
Christian home Polycarp was brought up 
and received his education. There he 
was taught about Jesus and his mission 
into our world. There he became acquaint- 
ed with the apostle John. Through 
John's influence he was brought into the 
Church, and was prepared for his great 
life work as the head or bishop of the 
church at Smyrna. 

We could not wish for a better illustra- 
tion of the way in which God's providence 



46 Heroes of the Early Church, 

works In taking care of his people, and in 
preparing them for what he has for them 
to do, than Polycarp's Hfe affords. And 
it would be easy enough to find illustra- 
tions of the same kind on every hand. 
The lives of such men as William Carey 
or John Newton, or John Williams '* the 
martyr missionary of Erromanga," and of 
other Christian laborers would furnish 
illustrations of just the same kind. 

2. We have in the history of Poly carp a 
good illustration of earnestness in learning 
the truth aud of diligence in teaching it to 
others. The two points now before us — 
earnestness In seeking the truth and 
diligence in teaching it — are matters of 
the greatest importance to us all. In the 
case of Polycarp, the first of these points 
is well brought out by a pupil of his, 
named Irenaeus. He is one of the heroes 
who will soon come before us. In writing 
to a friend of his about Polycarp, he says, 
" I remember seeing you when yet a boy, 
with Polycarp In Asia Minor. I could 
even now point out the place where he 
used to sit and talk to us. I could des- 



Polycm^p of Smyrna. 49 

scribe his going out and his coming In, his 
manner of Hfe, his personal appearance 
and how he used to tell us of his Inter- 
course with the apostle John and with 
others who had seen the Lord, and the 
pleasure with which he used to repeat all 
that he had heard them say about Jesus, 
about his miracles and his teachings. 
Polycarp told it all to us as one who had 
received it from the lips of those who had 
seen the blessed Lord with their own 
eyes." Here we see the earnestness with 
which Polycarp listened to the words of 
those who could tell him about Jesus and 
the truths which he taug^ht. 

God says to each of us by Solomon 
(Prov. 2 : 3-6), "If thou criest after know- 
ledge, and llftest up thy voice for under- 
standing ; if thou seekest her as silver, 
and searchest for her as for hid treasures ; 
then shalt thou understand the fear of the 
Lord, and find the knowledge of God." 
This was just what Polycarp did. He 
sought the knowledge of God in the way 
here pointed out, and he found it accord- 
ing to the promise here given. And if we 
4 



50 Heroes of the Early Church, 

follow his example we shall be rewarded 
as he was. 

And then, when Polycarp had gained 
the knowledge of the truth in the earnest 
way here spoken of, he was diligent in 
teaching it to others. One way in which 
he did this was by the faithful preaching 
which he kept up through all the years of 
his long life. Another way in which he 
did it was by the earnestness with which 
he opposed the prevailing errors of that 
day. As our Saviour opposed the temp- 
tations of Satan in the wilderness, by 
simply saying, " It is written," and then 
quoting God's written word, so did Polycarp 
in his contests with the heretics of his 
day. 

And then he showed the same dilip-ence 
in teaching the truth in his writings, which 
have come down to us. His epistle to the 
Philippians is genuine and the most Impor- 
tant of his writings. In speaking of this 
epistle, one of the early writers calls it 
"a most perfect epistle." Another writer 
says, "It is an admirable epistle. From it 
those who are anxious about their salva- 



Poly carp of Smyrna. 5 1 

tion may learn about the gospel of Jesus 
and the truth which it teaches." It is full 
of short and useful precepts and rules of 
life, all of which are sustained and urged 
by quotations from different portions of 
the word of God. This epistle was so 
highly prized by the early Christians that 
they used to have it read in their church- 
es, just as they did the canonical 
Scriptures. Thus we see how diligent 
Polycarp was in teaching the truth which 
he had been so earnest to learn. And 
this is what we should all try to do. 

3. We have in the life of this good Tfian 
an illustration of the honor which God puts 
upon his faithful servants. God says to 
his people, ** Them that honor me I will 
honor." Polycarp honored God by the 
readiness with w^hich he received his truth 
and the faithfulness with which he obeyed 
his commands. And God honored him in 
a very peculiar way by the message which 
he sent to him from heaven. 

In the opening chapter of the book of the 
Revelation, the seven churches then exist- 
ing in Asia Minor are mentioned. The 



52 Heroes of the Early Church, 

apostle John was directed by God to write 
a letter or epistle to the head of each of 
those seven churches. The second of 
those churches was that of Smyrna. This 
epistle begins thus : *'Unto the angel of 
the church in Smyrna write ; These things 
says the first and the last, which was dead 
and is alive ; I know thy works, and 
tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art 
rich). . . Fear none of those things which 
thou shalt suffer ... Be thou faithful unto 
death, and I will give thee a crown of 
life." Now think what an honor it was 
for God to call Polycarp '* the angel of the 
church in Smyrna." To be called the 
king or the emperor of the mightiest 
kingdom in the world would be nothing 
in comparison with this. The king would 
soon be obliged to put off his crown and 
lay aside his sceptre and let his kingdom 
pass into the hands of another; but the 
Church of Christ, of which Polycarp was 
one of the angels, is an everlasting 
Church. And Polycarp's connection with 
it will be everlasting too. No change will 
come over that Church or over those who 



Poly carp of Smyrna. 53 

are the angels, the ministers or the ser- 
vants of it, but that which is involved in 
their everlasting march from glory to 
glory. And then think of the honor of 
receiving such a promise as God here 
gave to Polycarp. It was the promise of 
"a crown of life" if he proved faithful 
unto death. In all the world there is no 
honor to be compared to the " crown of 
life " here referred to. Let us all try to 
"be faithful unto death," as Polycarp was, 
and then we shall share the honor which 
God o-ave him. 

4. The closing scene in the life of 
Polycarp illustrates very strikingly the 
sustaining power of the grace of God. 
Under the reign of the emperor Marcus 
Antoninus a very severe persecution 
broke out ao^ainst the Christians. As the 
most prominent man in the Church, 
Polycarp was seized and put in prison. 
On the breaking out of the persecution 
his friends advised him to leave Smyrna, 
and try to save his life by retiring to a 
small country town. He did so, but the 
servants of the emperor followed him 



54 Heroes of the Early Chu7'ch. 

there. They found out the house in which 
he was staying, and called there late at 
night. He had gone to bed before they 
came ; but when he understood who the 
men were and what they had come for, he 
rose and dressed himself. Then he went 
down stairs and received them as kindly 
and pleasantly as though they had come 
to save his life instead of to destroy it. 
Then he had a supper prepared for them 
and insisted on their partaking of it, which 
they did with the greatest surprise and 
wonder. After this he gave himself up 
into their hands, and they took him back 
to Smyrna and delivered him to the 
officers of the goverment. Now, how 
wonderful the power of God's grace must 
be which could lead a man to act in this 
way toward those who were seeking his 
destruction ! 

The proconsul or chief officer of the 
goverment then tried very hard to per- 
suade Polycarp to renounce Christianity 
and swear by the gods of Rome. 
Polycarp listened attentively to all he 
had to say, and then gave this as his noble 



Poly carp of Smyrna. 55 

answer : " Eighty and six years I have 
served my blessed Saviour. He has done 
nothing but bless me all the time; then 
how can I forsake him now?" Then he 
was led forth to execution. The officers 
had determined that he should be burned 
to death. When they reached the place 
the soldiers were about to nail him to the 
stake. He begged them not to do that, 
assuring them that his God, who gave 
strength to endure the fire, would enable 
him to stand there without being nailed. 
Then they only tied him to the stake. 
And as he stood there patiently waiting 
for the fire to be kindled, the words of his 
prayer were the last he ever spoke: "O 
Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy 
well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, by whom 
we received the knowledge of thee, the 
God of ancrels and of all creatures ! I 
bless thee that thou hast graciously brought 
me to this day and hour, that I may 
receive a portion among the number of 
thy martyrs and drink of Christ's cup. 
Wherefore I praise thee for all thy 
mercies ; I bless thee and glorify thee 



56 Heroes of the Early Church. 

through thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, 
through whom to thee and the Holy Ghost 
be glory both now and forever. Amen." 
Then the fire was kindled and the flames 
rose ; but instead of wrapping themselves 
about him, tradition says that they formed 
an arch of fire over him and left his body 
untouched. Then the ofificer in charge 
ordered one of the soldiers to thrust him 
through with his spear, which he did. 
After his body was burned, his Christian 
friends gathered up his bones and buried 
them in a tomb, over which a little chapel 
has been built, on the southeastern side of 
the city. That spot has ever been regard- 
ed as sacred to the memory of this hero 
of the early Church. 

And when we think of the calm, triumph- 
ant way in which Poly carp was able to 
meet his painful death, we have a splendid 
illustration of the sustaining power of the 
grace of God. 




'''i!!l!IMlll!lllllllllllll!nilll!!!1lllllIl!lllllll[Mlllim 



nifflnmiimuimiunmuiuiiiiminmniiuiuiiuuuuiiiiiniiuuiiuiiiiiiiihn 



B. IJTSTimrS MARTYR. 



CHAPTER IV. 

JUSTIN MARTYR. 

BORN A. D. 105 (?); DIED A. D. 165 (?). 

Justin the Martyr is among the earliest 
of these good men coming before us for 
our study. The exact year of his birth is 
not certainly known, but it was some- 
where towards the close of the first cen- 
tury of the Christian era. The date of 
his death is said to have been in the year 
165. He was born in the city of Shechem 
in Palestine. At one time this city was 
called Neapolis. It is now known as 
Nabulus or Nablus ; but in the time of 
Justin, it was known as Shechem. It is one 
of the most ancient cities of Palestine. 
When Abraham first came into this land, 
he pitched his tent and built an altar to 
God under an oak in Shechem. After the 
ten tribes separated from the kingdom of 

(59) 



6o Heroes of the Early Church, 

Judah, Shechem was for some time the 
capital of the kingdom of Israel. The 
tomb of Joseph is near this city, and so is 
Jacob's well, where our Saviour met the 
woman of Samaria and had that interest- 
ing conversation with her, of which we 
read in the fourth chapter of John's Gos- 
pel. 

Shechem is one of the most interesting 
towns of the Holy Land, in its situation. 
It lies in a beautiful valley between the 
celebrated mountains of Gerizim and 
Ebal. When Joshua brought the tribes 
of Israel into Canaan, he assembled them 
in this valley, and from the top of Mount 
Gerizim he read, in the hearing of the 
people, all the blessings which God had 
promised should attend them if they 
obeyed his voice. And then from the top 
of Mount Ebal he read the fearful curses 
which were to come upon them if they 
were not obedient to the commands of 
God. 

When going through the Holy Land we 
spent two days at Shechem, being detain- 
ed there by a heavy rain. On the second 



y us tin Martyr, 6i 

day when the rain had ceased, we went 
up to the top of Mount Gerizim. The 
prospect was most charming ; and while 
standing there I tried to picture to myself 
what a sight it must have been when all 
the tribes of Israel were assembled in the 
valley below to hear the blessings pro- 
nounced upon them from one of these 
mountains and the curses from the other. 

With this interesting town in Palestine 
the name of Justin Martyr is intimately 
connected. He was a man possessed of 
unusual talents as a writer and a speaker ; 
and although he did not enter the minis- 
try, he was yet one of the most useful 
men, among those of whom we are now 
speaking, in helping to build up and de- 
fend the cause of Christ In the world. 
And in studying the leading facts of his 
history, we find In him an example worthy 
of our Imitation in four respects. 

I. He is so when we see what an earnest 
SEEKER after the trtcth he was. 

The father of Justin was not a Chris- 
tian, and so in his early years he was not 
taught anything about Christ and his re- 



62 Heroes of the Early Church. 

llgion. But he had a very inquiring mind, 
and he resolved, when he was quite 
young, to find out the truth. 

There were then four different schools 
of philosophy known among men. These 
were the Stoics, the Peripatetics, the Pyth- 
agoreans and the Platonists. Justin de- 
termined to find out the teachings of 
these different schools and see which was 
the most satisfactory. He began with the 
Stoics. This school was founded by Zeno 
in the third century before Christ. They 
taught that there were gods, but that they 
took no interest in the affairs of men ; 
and that these affairs were all ruled by a 
fate which nothing could resist. Justin 
soon gave up this school. He next ex- 
amined the teachings of the Peripatetics. 
This school was founded by the famous 
Aristotle in the fourth century before 
Christ. The meaning of the name is 
walkers ; and they were so called because 
Aristotle always used to walk about when 
he was teaching his pupils. They taught 
a great deal about the dignity of human 
nature, and that all real happiness was 



yustm Martyr, 65 

only to be found in the proper use of our 
moral and mental faculties. This did not 
satisfy Justin, and then he went to the 
Pythagoreans. This school was estab- 
lished by Pythagoras, a Greek philos- 
opher, in the sixth century before Christ. 
They taught the doctrine of the trans- 
migration of souls, or that after death 
the souls of men go into the bodies of 
animals and then into veofetables and 
minerals. This did not satisfy Justin, and 
so he turned to the Platonists. This was 
a school founded by Plato, a Greek philos- 
opher, in the fifth century before Christ. 
The teachino^s of this school came nearer 
to the Christian religion than any of the 
others. Plato had probably got some of 
his ideas from what the Jews in Egypt had 
told him about the Old Testament. Justin 
found the teachings of this school more 
satisfactory than those of any of the 
others, and, as he knew nothing about 
Christ and the truth which he taught, he 
became a Platonlst. He had gone as far 
as he could go, and proved himself an 
earnest seeker after the truth. 



66 Heroes of the Early Church. 

2. We see in yustin Martyr a successful 
FINDER o/ the truth. 

When we go as far as we can in seeking 
for the truth and yet have not succeeded, 
we may be sure that God will help us, and 
then we shall succeed. This is just what 
God teaches us when he says, "Ye shall 
seek me, and find me^ when ye shall search 
for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29 : 13). 

After Justin became a Platonist, he 
made up his mind to retire from the busy 
world, and, choosing a place by the sea- 
side, he gave himself up to quiet medita- 
tion, and to find out more of that truth 
which he had sought so earnestly. 

One day as he was walking up and 
down the seashore, rapt in earnest 
thought, he was met by a grave-looking, 
venerable man, who asked him some 
questions about the important subject 
which was occupying his mind. They 
were soon engaged in earnest conversa- 
tion together. Justin told the stranger 
that he was a believer in the philosophy 
of Plato. He then stated some of the 
leading doctrines of that system and went 



Justin Martyr. 6y 

on to defend them. The meek old man, 
who was a Christian, Hstened attentively 
to all he had to say. Then he told him 
that the great truth for which he was 
seeking never could be found in the way 
in which he was then seeking it. '' The 
schools of philosophy of which you have 
spoken," said the old man, ''know nothing 
about this truth. And what they have 
not found themselves, they never can give 
to others. The pearl of great price does 
not lie within their range. The thing for 
you to do, if you wish to find this pearl, 
is to ' search the Scriptures.' Study the 
Hebrew prophets. They were taught by 
the Spirit of God. They saw and reveal- 
ed the truth on which our salvation de- 
pends. Pray God to guide you into the 
knowledge of that truth. He will hear 
your prayer and answer it, and In his light 
you will see light." 

This was the turning point in Justin 
Martyr's history. He followed that 
strange old man's advice. He went home 
and procured a copy of the scriptures. 
Giving up the teaching of Plato, he stud- 



68 Heroes of the Early Church, 

led carefully what the prophets of God 
had written. He prayed to God for guid- 
ance. His prayer was heard. The light 
of truth shone in upon the darkness of his 
mind. He was led to repentance and 
faith in Christ. He turned his back on 
the teachings of the philosophers, and 
found that it was only " the truth as it is 
in Jesus " which met all the wants and 
satisfied all the longings of his soul. And 
thus the earnest seeker of the truth be- 
came the successful finder of it. And 
what was true then is true now, for God's 
promise is, 'T will be found of them that 
seek me." Earnest seekincr and success- 
ful finding of saving truth always go 
together. 

3. We have in the history of this good 
man the example of a faithful follower 
of the truth. 

Justin was a man with intellectual abili- 
ties of an unusual character. He had 
stood very high among the followers of the 
Platonic school of philosophers, and was 
one of their most influential members. 
They were very much troubled to think of 



y us tin Martyr. 69 

losing from their ranks one who had 
been so eminently useful, and were quite 
at a loss to understand what could have 
led him to make such a change. Then he 
wrote a long letter to them, explaining 
the reasons which had led to his conver- 
sion. In commencing this letter he uses 
these words : 

" Think not, O ye Greeks, that I have 
rashly and without deliberate judgment 
departed from the rites of your religion. 
I was obliged to make this change, 
because I could find nothing in the teach- 
ing of your philosophy which could meet 
the longings of my soul, and give me that 
rest and peace of mind without which I 
never could be happy. Your wisest 
teachers never can give satisfactory 
answers to the questions of those who are 
anxious to find rest and peace for their 
souls. 

Then he went on to show the folly of 
all that their philosophy taught. And he 
wound up his letter in such words as 
these : 

*' Come now, O ye Greeks, and listen to 



70 Heroes of the Early Church. 

the voice of heavenly wisdom ; be in- 
structed in a divine religion, and acquaint 
yourselves with a King who is immortal. 

^ Become as I am, for I was once as you 
are. These are the reasons which led to 
my conversion. The doctrine of the 
Christian religion is divine and satis- 
factory. It subdues the corruption of our 
fallen nature and gives us the victory over 
our evil passions, and when these are sub- 
dued, the soul experiences a joy and 
happiness which can be found nowhere 
else. It is reconciled to its Creator, and 
finds all it can need in him." 

This was the way in which Justin 
Martyr followed out the truth which he 
had found in the religion of the gospel. 
And though he was not a minister, and 
preaching was not his life work, yet we 
can readily understand how much good he 
must have done to all about him by speak- 
ing and writing of the gospel of Jesus in 
such a way as this. God said to Abra- 

, ham, *' I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a 
blessing!' And what God said to him he 
says to you and to me, and to all who are 



yustin Martyr. 71 

successful finders and faithful followers of 
the truth, as Justin' was. By the words 
we speak, by the prayers we offer, by the 
works we do and by the example we set, 
we may be blessings to all about us, as 
this hero of the early Church was. 

4. We find in this good man the example 

of A BRAVE DEFENDER OF THE TRUTH which 

he had sought and found and followed. 

He was not satisfied with explaining the 
gospel to his friends, but was always ready 
to stand up in its defence against all its 
enemies wherever he met with them. In • 
one of his visits to Rome he encountered 
a prominent Jewish teacher named Try- 
phon, who was a great enemy of Christ- 
ianity, and went about teaching that Jesus 
of Galilee was a deceiver, and his religion 
a cheat. Justin had a two-days debate 
with him in the presence of a large 
assembly of people ; and the end of it 
was that Tryphon confessed that he had 
been entirely mistaken about the Christian 
religion, and that Justin had taught him to 
understand the Old Testament prophets 
better than he had ever done before. 



72 Heroes of the Early Church. 

And then Justin defended the truth in 
another way. Antoninus was the emperor 
of Rome at that time. He was a mild 
and excellent prince, and did not perse- 
cute the Christians himself; but their 
enemies falsely charged them with crimes 
which they had never committed, and so, 
in different parts of the empire, they were 
persecuted and put to death under the 
edicts of former emperors, which had 
never been repealed. 

Justin resolved to try to stop this ; so 
he wrote a defence of Christianity, or, as 
it is called, an apology for it, and sent it 
to the emperor. This had such a good 
effect upon him that he published a decree 
forbidding that the Christians should be 
persecuted anywhere, unless it could be 
proved that they were teaching or doing 
something against the welfare of the 
Roman empire. 

Some years after this, when Antoninus 
was dead and his son Marcus Aurelius 
had succeeded him as emperor, the 
Christians were again persecuted. Then 
Justin wrote another apology for Christ- 



Justin Martyr, 73 

ianity and sent it to the emperor. But 
this was not so successful as his former 
effort had been. It made the emperor 
angry. He issued a decree for persecu- 
ting the Christians and putting them to 
death. Then Justin and six of his com- 
panions were taken prisoners and brought 
before the prefect of the city of Rome. 
He called on them to sacrifice to the gods 
of Rome. This they refused to do. Then 
they were sentenced to be scourged and 
beheaded. This was done. 

And thus we see in Justin Martyr an 
example of an earnest seeker of the truth, 
a successful finder of it, a faithful follower 
and a brave defender of it. Let us ask 
God to give us grace to follow his ex- 
ample, and then it will be our privilege to 
be heroes of the Church in this nineteenth 
century, as Justin Martyr was in the 
second century. 



CHAPTER V. 

IREN^US OF LYONS. 

BORN A. D. 120 TO 140 (?); DIED A. D. 202 (?). 

Irenaeus of Lyons is the next hero that 
comes before us for our consideration. 
The facts of his history that have come 
down to us are few. There are various 
points connected with his hfe on which it 
would be interesting to dwell, if we could 
only obtain further imformation. But this 
cannot be had, and so we must make the 
best of such knowledge as we have. We 
find this difficulty at the very beginning of 
our subject. How natural it is to pause 
just here and ask the question, when and 
where was Irenaeus born ? It is easy 
enough to ask these questions, but it is 
not so easy to answer them. Indeed 
positive answers to them cannot be given. 

It is believed that he was born between 

(74) 



Irenceus of Lyons, 75 

the years 120 and 140 of the Christian 
era. And the place of his birth is just as 
uncertain as the time of it. It is generally 
supposed that he was born in the city of 
Smyrna, in Asia Minor, or somewhere in 
that neighborhood. There he became 
acquainted with the good Polycarp, whose 
history and character we have already 
considered. From him he received the 
instruction that he needed to mould his 
character and fit him for the life of emi- 
nent usefulness which he spent in the 
cause of Christ. 

Irenseus was sent by Polycarp to Lyons 
in France to do missionary work there, 
and that became the scene of his life's 
labors. 

Lyons is the second city of France for 
its size and its importance. It is an 
ancient city, having been founded in the 
first century before Christ. It is beauti- 
fully situated on the rivers Rhone and 
Saone. Its present population is between 
three hundred thousand and four hundred 
thousand. On a hill back of the town, 
about five hundred feet high, stands a 



"jG Heroes of the Early Church, 

famous church, which is visited every year 
by a milHon and a half of pilgrims. 

Lyons is especially famous for the silk 
goods which are manufactured there. 
Seventy thousand looms are occupied in 
carrying on this work, and these give em- 
ployment to 140,000 weavers. The silk 
goods manufactured in Lyons are sent to 
almost every part of the world. And for 
the purchase of the raw materials for those 
goods, for the wages of the workmen em- 
ployed thereon and for the sale of the 
goods when finished, not less than ^200, 
000,000 are expended every year. 

This famous city was the scene of the 
great life work of the '' hero of the early 
Church " whose history is now before us. 
And in dwelling on this history, Irenaeus 
comes before us as an example worthy of 
our imitation in three different views that 
we may take of him. 

I . He is a good example for its to follow 
when we consider him as a true mission- 
ary. 

It was his friend and teacher Polycarp, 
the head or bishop of the church of 




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uwiguMiUiuiiiuiuiiuiitiiiuuiiiiniiuwniNiiiiniiaiim 



S. IKENMUS, 



Irenceus of Lyons. 79 

Smyrna, who sent him to France. Smyrna 
was then the great centre of communica- 
tion with all the eastern part of the 
world. And Lyons was, no doubt, a place 
of considerable business importance even 
then. And its business must have 
brought it into connection with the leading 
people of Smyrna in that early day. 
Thus Polycarp would learn about the 
state of things in Lyons and in Gaul or 
France, the country of which it was so 
important a city. It is supposed that 
some of the merchants of Lyons, while 
trading in Smyrna, may have heard Poly- 
carp preach, and being converted by his 
preaching, may have begged him to send 
some one to preach the gospel to the peo- 
ple of their country. And this was 
probably the reason why he sent Irenaeus 
to them. Irenaeus was then a minister of 
the gospel. He had been thoroughly 
educated; was a man of fine ability and 
an eloquent preacher. There he labored 
for years as a devoted missionary. The 
church of Lyons grew and prospered un- 
der his influence. Pothinus, a venerable 



So Heroes of the Early Church. 

and devoted man of God, was the head or 
bishop of that church. In connection 
with him, Irenseus spent all his time and 
strength and energy in trying to make the 
gospel known, and to build up the church 
in Lyons and through all that part of 
France. 

After Irenaeus had been thus at work 
for some years, a fierce persecution 
against the Christians in France broke out 
under the emperor Antoninus. Great 
numbers of all ranks were put to death. 
Pothinus, the venerable head of the church 
at Lyons, in his ninetieth year, was seized 
and tortured. Then he was thrown into 
prison, and it was arranged to have him 
put to death the next day. But before 
the morning dawned he died in prison. 
Irenaeus was chosen to take his place as 
the head of the church in Lyons. 

And thus he carried out his mission. 
It involved great sacrifice and self-denial 
on his part ; for there was little or nothing 
of the education and refinement in France 
then that he had been accustomed to 
among his own people. But he took up 



IrencBUs of Lyons, 8 1 

the work appointed for him in the spirit 
of a true missionary, and he devoted his 
life to that work in the exercise of the 
same spirit. And the result of his faith- 
ful labor was seen in the growth and 
prosperity of the church in Lyons and all 
the surrounding country. When we think 
of this we cannot wonder to find him 
spoken of by those who knew him best as 
" the light of the western Chu7xh!' 

And this is just the spirit which we 
should all have and exercise. Our blessed 
Saviour expects us to be, as the apostle 
Paul expressed it, "■ workers together with 
him." There is missionary work for us 
all to do wherever we may be placed ; and 
our happiness here and our reward here- 
after will depend very much on the faith- 
fulness with which we carry out this 
missionary spirit. 

2. We find IrencEUs setting us a good 
example for our imitation^ when we consider 
him as a real peacemaker. 

There are two incidents in his history 
which illustrate this peace-loving element 
of his character. One of these we see in 



82 Heroes of the Early Church. 

the efforts which he made to counteract 
the errors of the sect called the Montan- 
ists. These men professed to have re- 
ceived the Spirit of God in a miraculous 
way, and that they had visions and dreams 
by which they were led and taught without 
any regard to the word of God. The re- 
sult of their teachings was that the Scrip- 
tures were set aside and men were led 
into all sorts of erroneous doctrines and 
practices. 

Eleutherus, who was the bishop or pope 
of Rome at that time, had fallen under the 
influence of this sect, and was about to 
give his public sanction to the support of 
their erroneous views. This was likely to 
break up the harmony and unity of the 
Church and lead to the bitterest strife and 
contention. The Christians in Lyons and 
the martyrs who were then in prison 
awaiting their death in defence of the 
gospel were greatly distressed by this 
state of things. They wrote earnest 
letters to the bishop of the Church of 
Rome, begging that the influence of that 
Church should not be used in support of 



IrencEUs of Lyons, 83 

this false teaching, and pointing out the 
endless strife and contention which would 
thus be brought upon the whole Church. 
Irenaeus was sent to carry these letters to 
Rome. For the sake of the peace of the 
Church he was willing to undertake that 
long journey. His efforts and influence 
there were successful. The errors of the 
Montanists were not endorsed as the 
teaching of the Christian Church, and this 
had much to do with preserving the peace 
and purity of the Church. 

The Church of Rome in these days 
claims to be infallible in its teachings ; but 
certainly it was not infallible when its head, 
the pope, was ready to hold and teach the 
erroneous doctrines of the sect of the 
Montanists. 

Some years after this there was another 
occasion when the Church was in danger 
of strife and division, but when the in- 
fluence of Irenaeus was again exerted to 
preserve its peace. This was w^hen the 
controversy arose about the proper time 
for keeping Easter. Victor, who was then 
at the head of the Church of Rome, had 



84 Heroes of the Early Church. 

made up his mind that all who did not hold 
the same views which he held on this sub- 
ject should be excommunicated or cut off 
from connection with the Church. This 
course, if persisted in, would have led to 
bitter and endless conflict. A council was 
called of the principal churches of France 
to consider this matter. After a careful 
examination of it, they recommended 
Irenaeus to write a letter to Victor, 
earnestly remonstrating against the ground 
he had taken, and entreating him, for the 
sake of the prosperity and peace of the 
Church, to change his course and to allow 
the members of the Church everywhere 
to hold their own opinions about keeping 
Easter, as there was no authoritative 
teaching on the subject in the Scriptures, 
and it was not a matter on which any one's 
salvation depended. Here his efforts were 
again successful, and thus he proved him- 
self to be a true peacemaker. And this 
is what we should all try to be. Jesus 
our Saviour came to bring "peace on 
earth." He is the '' Prince of peace;" his 
gospel is the gospel of peace ; and all his 



Irenceus of Lyons. 85 

people should strive so to live and act 
that the precious promise may be theirs 
which says, "• Blessed are the peace- 
makers : for they shall be called the chil- 
dren of God." 

3 IrencEus conies before tis as the example 

of AN EARNEST WORKER. 

We might find in his history various 
illustrations of this point of our subject; 
but the work he did with his pen is that of 
which- we desire especially to speak. 

Many different sects, teaching erroneous 
doctrines, sprang up, in connection with 
the Church, in the latter part of the 
second century. These sects led many 
persons away from the simple truth as 
taught in the Scriptures. This was a 
great cause of grief and sorrow to the 
honest-hearted, truth-loving Christians. 
But no one felt this more than Irenaeus 
did, and he resolved to do all in his power 
to correct this evil. 

The chief of these erroneous sects was 
called the Gnostics. They took this name 
from the Greek word signifying knowledge, 
because they claimed that they knew more 



86 Heroes of the Early Church, 

than any other people about what was 
really worth knowing. But they were 
mistaken in this. Not satisfied with the 
simple teachings of the Bible, they went 
off into all sorts of wild speculations 
about the origin of evil, the eternity of 
matter, and similar subjects. These dis- 
cussions led them into endless errors. 
Irenaeus made up his mind to see what he 
could do to counteract these errors, and 
he spent six or seven years of his life in 
seeking to accomplish this object. He 
gave himself up to the careful study of 
the teachings of these different sects ; and 
then, in the light both of reason and of 
Scripture, he tried to show the errors con- 
tained in them and the sad results to 
which those errors must lead. He wrote 
a number of volumes on this subject. 
Various titles were given to them, but the 
short, simple name by which they are best 
known is ''Against the Heretics." Only 
a portion of what he wrote has come down 
to us ; but enough of his writings remain 
to fill two large octavo volumes of between 
four hundred and five hundred pages 



IrencBUs of Lyons. 87 

each. A very nice edition of this work 
was pubHshed in Edinburgh a few years 
ago. It is called '' Irenaeus against Here- 
sies." When I took up one of these 
volumes and examined it, I could not help 
having a feeling of awe and reverence for 
it. I said to myself, " Here is a work that 
was written seventeen hundred years ago. 
How many minds have been influenced by 
it! How many wanderers in the paths of 
error have been brought back again to the 
simple truth of God through the teaching 
of these books ! What an untold amount 
of good must have been done by these 
writings of Irenaeus ! And how glorious 
the harvest he will reap in heaven from 
the seed sown, in the earnest work which 
he did for God in connection with the 
Church at Lyons ! " 

Irenaeus lived till the early part of the 
third century. He died some tim.e be- 
tween the years 202 and 208. Whether 
he died a natural death or ended his 
course by martyrdom is not certainly 
known. But he was a real "hero of the 
early Church ; " and it will do us good if 



88 



Heroes of the Ea7dy Church. 



we try to follow his example when we 
think of him as a trite missionary^ a 7'eal 
peacemaker ^ and an earnest worker. 




CHAPTER VI. 

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. 

BORN A. D. 160 (?); DIED A. D. 220 (?). 

Clement, of whom we are to speak next 
In our list of famous men, is said to have 
been born in the year i6o of the Christian 
era, and to have died in the year 220. He 
is sometimes spoken of as an Athenian 
and sometimes as an Alexandrian. The 
explanation of this is that Athens was the 
place of his birth and Alexandria the place 
where his principal life work was carried 
on. Thus his name is naturally connected 
with two of the most famous cities of the 
world. We may say a few words about 
these cities before going on to consider 
the history of Clement. 

Athens, the place of Clement's birth, is 
the principal city of Greece. It is said to 
have been founded by Cecrops, fifteen 



92 Heroes of the Early Church, 

hundred years before Christ. This was 
about the time when Moses was keeping 
the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, in the 
land of Midian. What a far-off period 
that seems to be ! It would require a 
large volume to give the history of Athens 
in detail. The city is beautifully situated 
around the base of the celebrated hill 
called the Acropolis. This is about three 
hundred feet above the city and six 
hundred feet above the level of the sea. 
Athens is distant between four and five 
miles from the sea, and used to be con- 
nected with the well-known harbor of the 
Piraeus by a wide avenue protected on 
either side by high solid walls. There is 
probably no other city in the world which 
has been connected with so many famous 
men in every department of life, as war- 
riors, philosophers, historians, musicians, 
poets, artists, and in all the pursuits that 
have occupied the thoughts and called 
forth the energies of man as has Athens. 
The statues and temples of Athens have 
had no equals in the world. The most 
famous of these is the temple called the 



Clement of Alexandria. 93 

Parthenon. It was built by Pericles more 
than four hundred years before Christ, and 
was considered the finest temple in the 
world. The ruins of the Parthenon are 
still standing, and no one who enjoys the 
privilege of looking at them will ever for- 
get that sight. There used to be in this 
temple a gigantic statue of the female 
divinity Athena, after whom this city is 
named. It was nearly fifty feet high, was 
all made of gold and ivory, and cost half 
a million of dollars. But the most in- 
teresting thing about this city to 
Christians, is the thought that here Paul, 
the great apostle of the Gentiles, stood on 
the top of Mars' Hill and preached Christ 
to the philosophers and wise men of 
Athens. In this famous city Clement, the 
subject of our present study, was born. 

And as he was connected with Athens 
by his birth, so he was connected with 
Alexandria by the great work of his 
life. This was another famous eastern 
city. It was founded by Alexander the 
Great, and named in honor of himself, be- 
tween three hundred and four hundred 



94 Heroes of the Eajdy Church. 

years before Christ. It Is situated on the 
southeastern shore of the Mediterranean 
Sea, and near the mouth of the Nile. It 
used to be the great centre of trade and 
commerce between the eastern and west- 
ern portions of the world. This made it 
very prosperous. At one time its popula- 
tion amounted to six hundred thousand, 
thouorh now it does not exceed two 

o 

hundred thousand. It was for centuries 
the royal abode of the rulers of Egypt. In 
this city was said to have been collected 
the largest library the world had then 
known. When the Turks took possession 
of this city, in the early part of the seventh 
century, the caliph Omar is said to have 
ordered this library to be destroyed. His 
reason for giving this order was thus ex- 
pressed : 'Tf these books contain only 
what we find in the Koran, they are not 
needed. If they teach anything different 
from what the Koran teaches, then they 
are injurious, and had better be destroy- 
ed." 

Two famous obelisks used to stand out- 
side the limits of this city, near the Nile. 



Clement of Alexandria. 95 

One of them was called " Pompey's 
Pillar," and the other " Cleopatra's 
Needle." These used to be objects of 
great interest to travellers. I remember 
the pleasure with which I gazed upon them 
w^hen there some years ago. But those 
obelisks are no longer to be seen there. 
One of them has been presented to 
England, and has been set up on the bank 
of the river Thames. The other has been 
presented to our country, and now stands 
in Central Park, New York. 

But now for Clement. We have not as 
many incidents connected with his life as 
we have had in connection with the other 
heroes we have considered. But from the 
little that we do know of him we may 
learn three good practical lessons. 

I. The first lesson taught us by the life 
of this good man is about how to find the 
truth. He was an early and an earnest 
seeker of the truth. He was born in a 
heathen family, and had no home in- 
fluences about him to lead him in the right 
way. He was blest with excellent natural 
abilities, and as soon as he was old enough 



96 Heroes of the Early Church, 

to act for himself he determined to begin 
at once, and never rest till he had found 
out what the truth is about God, about the 
soul and eternity. 

Athens, the city of his birth, was always 
famous for its learning. The different 
sects of Philosophy had their schools 
there. Clement applied to them, and 
listened attentively to all they had to 
teach. But this did not satisfy him. Then 
he resolved to leave home and seek else- 
where for further light. He visited all the 
places in the eastern world which were 
most celebrated for their learning, inquir- 
ing eagerly for the truth. It was a long 
and trymg experience through which he 
passed. He gained a little in one place 
and a little in another; but he never 
arrived at any clear and satisfactory un- 
derstanding of what the truth is till he re- 
turned to Egypt and took up his abode 
in the city of Alexandria. Here he found 
that there was a large and prosperous 
school, taught by a Christian minister 
whose name was Pantaenus. Clement 
joined this school, and listened attentively 



Clement of Alexandria, 



97 



to all the teacher had to say. There the 
gospel of Jesus, in its simplicity and full- 
ness, was made known to him. This met 
his wants and satisfied his longings. It 
was to him like cold water to a thirsty 
soul. Clement was an early and an 




98 Heroes of the Early Church. 

earnest seeker of the truth, and he found 
it. And those who thus seek it will be 
sure to find it. There are two of God's 
precious promises which make this cer- 
tain. In one of these God says, " Those 
that seek me early shall find me " (Prov. 
8:17). In another he says, "Ye shall 
seek me, and find me, when ye shall search 
for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29 : 13). 
To seek and find the truth in Jesus is the 
most important thing for us all to do. 
We never can be happy, we never can be 
truly useful, till we know this truth. And 
so the first and most important thing for 
us all to do is to seek this truth, and never 
to rest till we find it. Let me entreat all 
my readers to follow the example set by 
Clement of Alexandria, and be early and 
earnest seekers for the truth. 

2. The second lesson we may learn from 
this good man is how to use the truth for our 
own good when we have fotcnd it. When 
the way to heaven was pointed out to 
Clement, he did not say, " Now I know the 
way. That is enough. I can walk in it 
at any time." No ; but when he under- 



Clement of Alexandria. 99 

stood what that way was, he began to 
walk in it at once. When he learned that 
Jesus was the great Physician, whose 
*'balm of Gilead " was the only medicine 
to cure sin-sick souls, he did not put off 
the takinpf .of that medicine till some 
future time. No ; but he took it at once, 
and was made whole by it. When he 
made up his mind to be a Christian, he 
did not trouble himself to find out what 
other Christians thought and felt and said 
and did. He took the word of God as 
'' the man of his counsel " and his guide, 
and resolved to follow its teachings in all 
things. Like the apostle Paul, his prayer 
in reference to every point of duty was, 
" Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " 
The knowledge of the truth which Clem- 
ent had gained made him a consistent 
Christian ; and this is what it will do for 
us if we make a right use of it. Just see 
how useful, consistent Christians may be ! 
When Lord Peterborough lodged for 
several days with Fenelon, the archbishop 
of Cambray, he was so delighted with his 
humble, earnest piety that he said, on 



I oo Heroes of the Early Church. 

leaving, '' If I stay here any longer, I shall 
become a Christian in spite of myself." 

A young minister, when about to be or- 
dained, said to a friend, '* At one time in 
my life I was very near becoming an in- 
fidel ; but there was one argument in 
favor of Christianity which I never could 
get over, and that was the beautiful and 
consistent example of my father." 

Clement of Alexandria had never seen 
the sweet lines which Charles Wesley 
wrote to show how the knowledge of the 
truth he had gained led him to consecrate 
his life to God's service, but he acted In 
the very spirit of those lines. Wesley 
says : 

" Lord in the strength of grace, 
With a glad heart and free, 
Myself, my residue of days, 
• I consecrate to thee. 

"Thy ransomed servant, I 

Restore to thee thine own ; 
And from this moment live or die 
To serve my God alone." 



Clement of Alexandria, loi 

Let us all do this, and then, like Clement, 
we shall be using the truth for our own 
good. 

3. In the third place, Clement used the 
truth, when he had found it, io^c the good of 
others as well as for his own good. One 
way in which he did this was by his ex- 
ample. When he had found out what the 
truth in Jesus was, he carried out its 
teachings faithfully in his daily life. And 
there is no telling the amount of good we 
may do to others in this way. Here is an 
illustration. We may call it one act of a 
boy and what good it did. 

Some time ago a little boy went home 
from a ragged school in London, with his 
dirty face washed clean. When his 
mother saw him she hardly knew him, but 
she liked the change. It pleased her so 
much that she washed her face. When 
her husband returned from his daily work, 
he was so surprised at the change which 
he saw in his wife and son that he went to 
work and washed away the grime and dust 
from his hard and dirty hands. So it 
spread through the family. Then the 



I02 Heroes of the Early Church, 

neighbors saw and admired the change, 
and very soon that dark and dismal alley, 
so long the abode of dirt and filth, became 
noted for its cleanliness. And all this re- 
sulted from one good act of that little 
boy. 

Again, Clement's use of the truth en- 
abled him to do good by his teaching as 
well as by his own example. When 
Pantsenus, the teacher of the famous school 
at Alexandria, died, Clement was ordained 
to the ministry, and appointed in his place 
as the head of that school. He occupied 
this position for all the remaining years of 
his life. Here he had a large number of 
pupils under his instructions ; and those 
pupils, when they had finished their 
studies, went out to occupy positions of 
great influence and usefulness in different 
parts of the Church. And all the good 
accomplished by those good men may be 
traced to the teaching of Clement. 

And then by his pen or by -^\\2X he wrote 
as well as by what he did and said, Clem- 
ent made use of the truth for the good of 
others. He wrote a number of volumes, 



Clement of Alexandria. 1 03 

but only three of them have come down 
to us. The first of these is called "Ex- 
hortations to the Gentiles." His aim in 
this work was to point out the errors 
taught by the different systems of religion 
in the heathen world, and then to show in 
contrast with them what the teachings of 
the Scriptures were. This was useful in 
bringing many souls to Christ. The sec- 
ond of his works was called " The Peda- 
gogue," or "The Instructor." In this work 
he brings out the character of Christ as 
the great Teacher, and shows clearly the 
principles which he appoints for regulating 
the thoughts and feelings, the words and 
actions, of his people. This was especial- 
ly intended to be a help and guide to those 
who had renounced heathenism and be- 
come Christians. They found this work 
very useful to them in trying to become 
earnest and consistent followers of Jesus. 
The third and last work of this good man 
had for its name the Greek word 
"Stromata," which means, literally, a col- 
lection of pieces. It was made up of 
selections from different portions of vScrip- 



I04 Heroes of the Early Church, 

ture, which he had found profitable to 
himself, and which, by adding plain, prac- 
tical remarks to them, he tried to make 
useful to others. And so, when we think 

of the earnest efforts which Clement made 

* 

to find the truth, and how, when found, he 
used it for his own good and for the good 
of others, he comes before us as an ex- 
ample which we shall all find it useful and 
profitable to follow. 



CHAPTER VII. 

TERTULLIAN OF CARTHAGE. 

BORN A. D. 150 TO 160 (?); DIED A. D. 220 TO 240 (?). 

Tertullian, who is the subject of our 
present chapter, was a friend of Origen. 

In the Hfe of this distinguished man 
we have brought before us the most ancient 
of the Latin fathers of the Church. His 
works, many of which have come down to 
us, have won for him a position of great 
prominence in the early Church. He was 
born about A. d. i6o, and died in his 
seventieth year, about the year 230. The 
place of his birth was the celebrated city 
of Carthage. 

This city is said to have been founded 
by the famous queen Dido, of whom Vir- 
gil, the Roman poet, has so much to say in 
his work called the y^neid. The origin 
of Carthage dates back as far as the ninth 

(105) 



io6 Heroes of the Early Church. 

century before Christ. Its first inhabitants 
came chiefly from the city of Tyre, in 
Phoenicia. It was situated on a bay of the 
Mediterranean Sea, not far from the pres- 
ent city of Tunis. Carthage was founded 
many years before Rome, and in its earher 
history was a flourishing and important 
city. It is said to have had at one period 
a population of seven hundred thousand 
inhabitants. For a lonp- time it was the 
great rival of the city of Rome. The 
Carthaginians and the Romans were en- 
gaged in frequent wars together. The 
chief contests between them were those 
so well known in history as the first, sec- 
ond, and third Punic wars. In carrying on 
these wars Scipio was the most famous of 
the Roman generals, and Hannibal of the 
Carthaginians. The Romans finally con- 
quered the Carthaginians and destroyed 
their celebrated city, in the year 140 b. c. 
It remained in ruins for more than a 
hundred years. In the first century of the 
Christian era, the emperor Augustus re- 
built the city and gave it its old name, and 
it had a flourishing history again for 



Tertullian of Carthage, 107 

several hundred years ; but it was finally 
destroyed by the Saracens about the 
middle of the seventh century, and now 
nothing remains of its ancient grandeur 
except a few broken arches, the ruins of a 
great aqueduct that was fifty miles in 
length. What an illustration the history 
of this once famous city affords us of the 
vanity of earthly greatness ! 

In that famous city, Tertullian, the sub- 
ject of our present study, was born. His 
father was a Roman centurion in the 
service of the proconsul of Africa. The 
natural abilities of Tertullian were very 
great. He was educated for the civil 
service of the empire, and was specially 
designed by his father to be a Roman law- 
yer. We know comparatively little of the 
details of Tertullian's life ; but from what 
we do know of his history, we can draw 
illustrations of three Important lessons. 

I. Tertullian comes before us an ex- 
ample of decision. He was over thirty 
years of age when he first became ac- 
quainted with the Christian religion. He 
had entered fully into the business for 



1 08 Heroes of the Early Church. 

which his father had trained him, which 
was the practice of a Roman lawyer. He 
was getting on very successfully with that 
business, and had the prospect of attain- 
ing great distinction in his profession. 
Just then he was brought to a knowledge 
of the truth as it is in Jesus, and felt dis- 
posed to become a Christian. But if he 
took this stand, and professed himself a 
follower of Christ, he knew very well that 
it would be a disadvantage to him in his 
business prospects, and would occasion 
him great pecuniary loss. The question 
for him to settle was, '' Shall I continue to 
worship the gods of my fathers, or shall I 
give them up and take Jesus as my God 
and Saviour ? " This was a very import- 
ant question for him to decide. He was 
then just in the position which Paul occu- 
pied when Jesus appeared to him on his 
way to Damascus to persecute the Chris- 
tians. Paul had been brought up at the 
feet of Gamaliel, the most famous Jewish 
teacher of that day. He had the prospect 
of great success before him as a Jewish 
lawyer; but he knew very well that if he 




irHRTUUJIAKUS, 



Tertullian of Carthage. 1 1 1 

became a Christian, it would ruin all his 
prospects of worldly success. And yet 
he made up his mind to take this course. 
He saw and felt that the loss of all earthly 
things would be a gain if he could only 
win Christ and become a partaker of the 
untold blessings which were to be found 
in him. And Tertullian had just the same 
experience here. Like Paul, the great 
apostle, he began his Christian life with a 
noble act of decision. And this is the 
way in which every Christian life should 
be begun and continued. We cannot be 
true Christians in any other way; and the 
practice of such decision always does good 
to ourselves and enables us to do good to 
others. How many examples of this we 
have ! 

When Alexander was asked how he 
had conquered the world, his answer was, 
'* By being decided." 

Here is an example of the effect of de- 
cision. A little girl was awakened at a 
meeting where the story of the leper 
whom Jesus healed was read and talked 
about. The leper came to Jesus and 



112 Heroes of the Early Church, 

worshipped him, saying, " Lord, If thou 
wilt, thou canst make me clean. And 
Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, 
saying, I will ; be thou clean. And Im- 
mediately his leprosy departed from him.'' 
In speaking about this afterwards to a 
friend, that little girl said, *' When I got 
home after the meeting, I went to my own 
room to think about what I had heard. I 
said to myself, * I noticed that there was 
an if in what that man said to Jesus ; but 
there was no if in what Jesus said to him.' 
Then I knelt down and said, ' Lord Jesus, 
thou canst, thou wilt, make me clean. 
Now I give myself to thee.' " That little 
girl's decision made her a Christian at 
once. This brought great good to her, 
and made her the means of doing great 
good to others. 

2. We have in Tertullian an example of 
consistency as well as of decision. Not 
long after he became a Christian, he had 
occasion to visit the city of Rome and to 
spend some time there. During his stay 
in Rome he was very much grieved to find 
how differently most of the professing 



Tertullian of Carthage, 113 

Christians there lived from the way In 
which he lived himself, and in which he felt 
sure that all true Christians should live. 
They engaged in worldly amusements, 
and practised selfish indulgences of 
various kinds, very much as people were 
accustomed to do who did not profess to 
be Christians. This was something which 
Tertullian could not understand. He felt 
sure that Jesus expected his people to 
" Come out from the world, and be sepa- 
rate." He felt sure that John was right 
when he said, " If any man love the world, 
the love of the Father is not in him." For 
himself, he was satisfied that he did love 
the Father, and therefore that he could 
not and ought not to love the world too. 
He made up his mind that if he was to be 
a Christian at all, he would be a true, 
honest and faithful Christian ; that he 
would have " the same mind which was in 
Christ," and would " tread in the blessed 
steps of his most holy life." But when he 
saw the mass of professing Christians a- 
bout him living so differently, he was at a 
loss to know what to do. 



1 1 4 Heroes of the Early Church. 

While In this state of perplexity, he be- 
came acquainted with some members of a 
sect in the Christian Church called the 
Montanists, after the name of their foun- 
der, Montanus. He made careful inquiries 
about the principles and practices of this 
sect. He found that they held all the 
fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures, 
only that they claimed to have the gift of 
prophecy still in exercise among them. 
But the thing which chiefly interested 
Tertullian in this sect was the faithfulness 
of their practice as Christians. They 
gave up all worldly pleasures and amuse- 
ments, and faithfully carried out the 
Scripture principle of self-denial in refer- 
ence to everything which the Scriptures 
taught them to be contrary to the will of 
God. This agreed entirely with his own 
views of what Christians ought to do and 
be, and so he joined this sect. He felt 
sure that he could not be a consistent 
Christian without acting in regard to 
worldly things just as the members of that 
sect acted ; and In doing this he was only 
carrying out the principles of true consis- 



Tertullian of Carthage, 115 

.tency. When a person desires to become a 
member of the Episcopal Church, one of 
the questions asked is this : '' Dost thou 
renounce the devil and all his works, the 
pomps and vanities of this wicked world, 
and all the sinful lusts of the flesh, so that 
thou wilt not follow nor be led by them ?" 
And the person usually answers : ** I re- 
nounce them all, and by God's help will 
endeavor not to follow nor be led by 
them." Though Tertullian did not use 
these words yet he made his profession in 
the very spirit which these words set forth, 
and he carried out that spirit through all 
the course of his Christian life ; and in 
doing this he was only setting an example 
of true consistency. And if all the mem- 
bers of the Church of Christ would make 
some such vow as we have just referred 
to, and would carry it out as consistently 
as Tertullian did, what a blessing it would 
be to the Church and to the world ! Con- 
sistency is an honor to the cause of 
Christ. 

Alexander the Great had a soldier in 
his army who bore his name, but was a 



1 1 6 Heroes of the Early Church. 

great coward. Provoked at the inconsis- 
tency between the man's name and his 
conduct, the emperor said to him one day, 
''Either change your name or act consis- 
tently with it." And this may be said to 
every Christian. 

We may close this part of our subject 
with the following lines of Charles Wes- 
ley : 

''That wisdom, Lord, on us bestow, 

From every evil to depart. 
To stop the mouth of every foe ; 

While upright both in life and heart, 
The proofs of godly fear we give 
In showinof how true Christians live." 

3. We have in Tertullian an exa7nple of 
2csefulness. He was ordained to the min- 
istry when about forty years of age, and 
in the faithful discharge of the duties of 
that high office he proved eminently use- 
ful both with his voice and with his pen. 
In the exercise of his ministry he was not 
confined to any particular charge, but, like 
the apostle Paul, he went everywhere, 
preaching the glorious gospel. And like 



Tertullia7i of Carthage. 1 1 7 

Paul he had but one unchanging theme, 
which was "Jesus Christ, and him cruci- 
fied." He was a very eloquent preacher, 
and wherever he went multitudes listened 
delightedly to the words of life which fell 
from his lips. We have no particular re- 
port of the direct results of his preaching; 
but in the Judgment of the great day, 
when the results of human actions are 
made manifest, in the number of souls 
brought to Christ by his preaching we will 
see how useful he was with his voice. 

But then with his pen he was even more 
useful than with his voice. Truth spoken 
soon dies away, and its usefulness ceases; 
but truth written remains a living power 
for generations. The writings of Ter- 
tullian were not so numerous as those of 
Origen, whose history we will soon con- 
sider, but they were of the same charac- 
ter. He wrote controversial works. These 
were desiofned to meet and counteract the 
various forms of error which prevailed 
in those days. Then he wrote many 
practical works to explain and enforce 
different parts of Christian duty. He 



1 1 8 Heroes of the Eaidy Church. 

wrote on repentance, on faith, on baptism, 
on prayer, on patience, on the resurrec- 
tion, on Christian faithfuhiess and on many 
other subjects ; and if we could only 
follow out the influence of his writings on 
different members of the Christian Church, 
not only in that age but in the ages which 
followed, we should be able to form a cor- 
rect idea of the extent of the usefulness 
of this good man. And if God shall give 
us grace to follow the example of Tertull- 
ian in the decision and in the consistency 
which marked his course, then, like him, 
we shall find our lives made useful to all 
about us. 

Sydney Smith used to say, *' Try to 
make at least one person happy every 
day. Try this for ten years, and then you 
will have made three thousand six hundred 
and fifty persons happy." Work like this 
is worth living for ; and if we are thus 
useful while we live, our usefulness will 
continue when we are dead. " Luther is 
dead, but the Reformation still lives. Cal- 
vin is dead, but his vindication of God's 
free sovereign grace will never die. 



Tertullian of Carthage. 119 

Knox and Melville and Henderson are 
dead, but Scodand still retains a Sabbath 
and a Christian peasantry, a Bible in every 
home and a school in every parish. Bun- 
yan is dead, but his bright spirit still walks 
the earth in his * Pilgrim's Progress.' 
Baxter is dead, but souls are still quick- 
ened by his 'Saint's Rest.' Henry Mar- 
tyn is dead, but who can count the quick- 
ened spirits that have been started into 
life by his example and his memory? 
Robert Raikes is dead, but the Sabbath- 
schools which he started are living still 
and carrying blessings round the world." 
Let us be as useful as we can while we 
live, and then our usefulness will continue 
when we die. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ORIGEN OF ALEXANDRIA. 

BORN A. D. 185 (?); DIED A. D. 254 (?). 

Orlgen is the next in the catalogue of 
these great and good men. He might 
well stand at the head of the list. There 
was none among them more gifted with 
natural abilities, more eloquent as a 
preacher, more eminent in piety, more 
diligent in study, more advanced in every 
branch of learning, and more extensively 
useful than he was. . '" 

Origen was born in the city of Alex- 
andria in the year 185 of the Christian 
era. His father, Leonidas, was a man of 
learning and a devoted Christian. This 
faithful father took charge of his son's 
early education. He instructed him in all 
the different branches of human learning 
that were then known, and was particular- 

(120) 



Origen of Alexandria. 121 

ly careful to make him fully acquainted 
with the principles of the Christian relig- 
ion, so that, like another Timothy, from 
a child he knew the holy Scriptures, which 
were able to make him wise unto salva- 
tion. In these he was well instructed 
and thoroughly exercised. And he dili- 
gently improved the privilege thus granted 
him. Part of his daily task was to learn 
and repeat to his father some passage of 
Scripture. He took great delight in do- 
ing this, and often, after reciting those 
passages of Scripture, would ask his father 
about them which he found it very difficult 
to answer. 

In the year 202, when Origen was 
seventeen years old, during the persecu- 
tion that raged under the emperor Severus, 
Leonidas was put in prison, tortured and 
suffered martyrdom. While his father 
was in prison, Origen, young as he was, 
had a great desire to be a martyr, and 
would gladly have gone with his father to 
prison and to death. He wrote letters to 
his father, beseeching him not to change 
his mind or give up his faith in Jesus. 



12 2 Heroes of the Early Church. 

His mother had great difficulty in keeping 
him from joining his father in prison ; and 
she actually had to hide his clothes to keep 
him from going out and exposing himself 
to danger. 

In the early years of his life, Origen 
was a pupil in the celebrated school at 
Alexandria, and received there the in- 
struction of Clement, who was then the 
head of that school and whose life work 
we studied in a previous chapter. On the 
death of Clement, Origen was appointed 
to take his place as the head of that 
school. His life was one of abounding 
usefulness. He shared in the persecu- 
tions which prevailed in those days, and 
was imprisoned and tortured on several 
occasions. But he always bore these 
sufferings as became a real hero, which he 
was. And at last he died at the city of 
Tyre in Palestine, in the year 254. And 
so, as Dr. Philip Schaff has well said, " he 
belongs among the confessors, if not among 
the martyrs!' of the early Church. His 
tomb, near the high altar of the cathedral 
of Tyre, was shown for many years, until 



Origen of Alexandria. 123 

it was finally destroyed during the wars 
of the Crusaders. 

It would require a larger space than we 
can give, to take in all the details of the 
history of this great man's life ; but we 
can draw out from it illustrations of four 
important practical lessons, which it will 
be well for our readers to remember and 
to follow. 

I . We find in the early life of Origen 

AN EXAMPLE OF FILIAL DEVOTION. 

On the death of his father the gover- 
ment seized and confiscated all the 
property which belonged to him. This 
left the mother and six children, of whom 
Origen was the oldest, in utter poverty 
and want. What was to be done? With 
the charge of such a family on her hands, 
it was impossible for the mother to earn 
anything for their support. But young 
Origen stepped nobly forth for the help 
and comfort of his mother. He was then 
only seventeen years old, yet he gave up 
his position as a pupil in the famous school 
of Alexandria and opened a school of his 
own. God smiled upon his efforts and 



124 Heroes of the Early Church, 

made them successful. Thus he was able 
to provide for the support of his mother 
and her family. But Origen never would 
have risen to the position of honor and 
usefulness which he afterwards occupied 
if it had not been for the loving devotion 
to his mother which he practiced. God's 
blessing always follows such devotion. 
Here is a strikinp- illustration of this from 
modern history. We may call it Filial 
Affection. 

Gustavus III., the king of Sweden, while 
passing on horseback one day through a 
village near his capital, observed a peasant 
girl, of pleasing appearance, drawing 
water from a fountain by the wayside. He 
went up to her and asked for a drink. In 
a moment she lifted her pitcher and very 
respectfully put it to the lips of the mon- 
arch. Having satisfied his thirst, he kindly 
thanked his benefactress, and said : 

" My young friend, if you will go with 
me to Stockholm, I can give you a more 
agreeable occupation than that you now 
have." 

"Ah, sir," she replied, 'T'm much 



Origen of Alexandria. 125 

obliged to you, but I cannot accept your 
offer. I am quite satisfied to remain in 
the position where God has placed me. 
But, even if it were not so, I could not, on 
any account, change my present situa- 
tion." 

"Why not?" asked the king with some 
surprise. 

" Because," said the girl, blushing, " my 
mother is poor and sickly, and has no one 
but me to help and comfort her in her 
trials ; and no offer which any one might 
make could tempt me to leave her, or 
neglect the duties which affection requires 
of me." 

"Where is your mother?" asked the 
king. 

" In yonder little cabin," pointing to a 
wretched-looking hovel near by. 

The king, who was very much interest- 
ed in the girl, went with her into her 
humble home. There, stretched on a bed 
of straw, lay an aged female, pressed 
down with age, sickness and infirmities. 
Moved by what he saw, he said to the 
aged sufferer, "I am very sorry, my friend, 



126 Heroes of the Early Church. 

to find you in such a sad state." 

*' Ah, sir," said the poor woman, I 
should deserve to be pitied indeed, were 
it not for that darhng daughter. She 
labors for my support, and leaves nothing 
undone that she thinks will be a help and 
comfort to me. May a gracious God re- 
member it to her for good !" she said as 
she wiped away her tears. 

Gustavus never felt so happy as he did 
then, to think that he had it in his power 
to afford help where it was so much need- 
ed. He slipped a purse of money into 
the hand of that faithful daughter, and 
said, " Continue to take care of your 
mother, I will soon help you to do it 
more effectually. Good-by, my friend." 

On his return to Stockholm, he settled 
a pension for life on that mother; and 
tliis when she died was to go to her 
daughter. And God blessed Origen for 
his filial devotion in much the same way. 

2. We find in Origen A good example 

OF SELF-DENIAL. 

In trying to help his mother and to show 
the reality of his religion, he determined 




ORTGEN. 



O rig en of Alexandria. 129 

to carry out faithfully our Saviour's words 
when he said, " If any man will be my dis- 
ciple, let him deny himself." He made 
it a matter of principle to give up every- 
thing that was not indispensably neces- 
sary. He refused to receive the gifts of 
his pupils. He had but one coat, and 
took no thought for the morrow. He 
seldom ate any flesh ; he never drank 
wine or intoxicating liquor. He devoted 
the greater part of the night to prayer 
and to the study of the Scriptures, and 
slept on the bare floor. And this earnest 
self-denial on his part added very much to 
his influence and to the power of his 
teaching. It secured for him the respect 
and the confidence both of the learned 
and the unlearned among his pupils, in an 
age and country where such a mode of 
life was held in the highest esteem both by 
Christians and heathen. This was one of 
the thinofs which led his friends to call him 
Origen the Adamaiitine. The adamant is 
one of the hardest and most unchanging 
of minerals. And they thought he was a 
sort of living adamant. And thus, in 



1 30 Heroes of the Early Church, 

connection with his pubhc and private in- 
structions, he was the means of making 
many converts from pagans of all ranks. 
By the good example of self-denial which 
he set forth, Origen was simply making 
all about him know and feel that there 
was a reality in the religion which he pro- 
fessed. And this is the way in which a 
good example will always make itself felt. 
We may do good by our words, but we 
can do much greater good by our actions. 
Here is an illustration of this point. We 
may call it the power of example. 

In the fourth century the emperor Con- 
stantine had one of his armies commanded 
by a brave and noble general. In march- 
ing through a distant part of the empire, 
this army on one occasion was nearly 
starved for want of food. Approaching a 
town inhabited by Christians, the general 
sent one of his officers to ask provisions 
for his army. The Christian people of 
that town immediately supplied their 
wants. Wondering at their free and 
noble charity, the general inquired what 
kind of people they were, to be so gener- 



Origen of Alexandria, 131 

ous. He was told that they were Chris- 
tians, and that their rehgion taught them to 
hurt no one, but to try to do good to all. 
This had such an effect on Paehmius that 
he never rested till he became a Christian. 
Then he resigned his position in the army 
and became a minister in the Church of 
Christ, and spent the rest of his days in 
preaching peace instead of making war. 

3. We have in the life of this good man 
an exa7nple of faithfulness to the truth. 

We see this in the great efforts he made 
to preserve the truth in its purity, and to 
spread it abroad on every hand. He was 
known to be such an eloquent preacher, 
and so successful In his efforts to correct 
false doctrines and teach those that were 
true, that bishops and leading men in all 
parts of the Church, when they found 
those about them who were teaching false 
doctrines, would send for Ox'w^xx to come 
and correct their errors, and proclaim 
among their people the simple *' truth as 
it is in Jesus." And he was always ready 
to answer these calls, and was eminently 
successful in the efforts thus put forth. He 



132 Heroes of the Early Church. 

would supply his place in the school of 
which he had charge, and then would go 
forth cheerfully wherever he was called, to 
correct the progress of error and uphold 
the cause of truth when it was in danger. 

And in thus showing his faithfulness to 
the truth, Origen was treading in the foot- 
steps of the great apostle Paul. When 
Paul saw in his night vision a man beck- 
oning to him and saying, *'Come over into 
Macedonia and help us," he obeyed the 
the call without any regard to the toil or 
danger to which it might expose him. The 
principle on which he acted is thus set 
forth by the apostle : *' Neither count I my 
life dear unto myself, so that I may finish 
my course with joy, and the ministry which 
I have received of the Lord Jesus, to tes- 
tify the gospel of the grace of God." 
This was the way in which Paul showed 
his faithfulness to the truth ; and this was 
what Origen did, and what God expects 
us all to do. 

4. Origen comes before us a-s an example 
of imtiriiig industry in his efforts to spread 
the truth. 



Origen of Alexandria. 133 

When he had accomplished the different 
missions of which we have just spoken, he 
hastened back to his home at Alexandria, 
and labored patiently in the arduous work 
of his school there. By diligent study he 
had mastered all the different systems of 
philosophy which were taught in those 
days. He drew out from them whatever 
truths were found there that haromized 
with the teaching of the Scriptures, and 
blended them together. This made his 
school remarkably popular. Pupils came 
to it from all parts of the world, and great 
numbers of them became Christians and 
went home to spread the influence of the 
gospel around them in the circles through 
which they moved. 

But it was in his zvritings, more than in 
anything else, that Origen's industry was 
seen. The works that he wrote were 
more numerous, more learned and more 
useful than those of any other author in 
the early Church. The number of his 
w^orks is said by some to have amounted 
to six thousand. This is no doubt beyond 
the mark, but it shows us how very num- 



134 Heroes of the Early Church. 

erous his works must have been to be 
thus spoken of. The most important of 
them were those which he pubhshed on 
the Scriptures. He spent twenty-eight 
years of his Hfe in this work. Not only 
his days but large portions of his nights 
were thus occupied. He used to have 
seven secretaries and seven copyists 
laboring with him continually. He wrote 
fifty volumes on the Scriptures. These 
were of three kinds : the first contained 
short explanatory notes on difficult pas- 
sages of Scripture, designed especially for 
young Christians ; the second contained 
full expositions of whole books of Script- 
ure, for the instruction of more advanced 
students; and the third was made up of 
exhortations or practical applications of 
Scripture for the benefit of the common 
people. Then he published many doctri- 
nal works on the subjects of controversy 
which prevailed in the Church in those 
days. He also wrote a number of works 
on the practical duties of religion. There 
were many diflferent versions of the 
Scriptures in those days. These varied 



O rig en of Alexandria, 135 

from each other very much, and good peo- 
ple were often at a loss to know which 
was the true version on which they might 
depend and by which they might be guid- 
ed. Origen devoted a great deal of his 
time to this department of study. He ex- 
amined the Hebrew and Greek and other 
versions of the Bible with untiring Indus- 
try, and published the result of his study 
in such a form that all earnest Christians 
might know satisfactorily just what the 
true word of God was, which they could 
take as '^ the man of their counsel and 
their guide." Very few of these numer- 
ous works of Origen have come down to 
us, but none can tell the amount of good 
accomplished by them among the members 
of the early Church. 

Now when we think of Orlo-en let us 
remember the example he has set us of 
filial devotion, of self-denial, of faithfulness 
to the truth and of untiring ijtdustry in 
spreading it. Let us pray for grace to 
follow his example, and then we shall bear 
blessings wherever we may go. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE. 

BORN A. D. 200 (?); DIED A. D. 258 (?). 

The interesting characters we are now 
considering take us over a large period of 
the history of the Christian Church from 
the time of the apostles nearly to the 
dawn of the Reformation. In this great 
field of study we find characters and in- 
cidents that have an air of freshness about 
them, and that prove, both instructive and 
profitable. 

Among the heroes of this early period 
to which we would next call attention is 
Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage, 

This city was, in its day, one of the 
most famous cities of the world. It was 
situated in the northern part of Africa, 
near where the city of Tunis, in Algiers, 
now stands. 

(136) 



Cypria7i of Carthage. 139 

Carthage is the city which is said to 
have been founded about 850 years before 
Christ, or a hundred years before the 
foundation of the great city of Rome, as 
we found when studying about TertulHan 
in a previous chapter. 

There are four good points in the char- 
acter of Cyprian to which we may refer. 

I. We may speak of him as an exam- 
ple of diligence. 

Cyprian is beheved to have been born 
in the year 201, or the first year of the 
third century of our era. His family was 
highly respectable, and his father was one 
of the senators of the city of Carthage. 
Of course he was brought up in the 
heathen religion which prevailed in his 
country. He was first a student, and then 
a teacher of the laws of Carthage ; and 
he had pursued his studies with such un- 
usual diligence that he was considered the 
ablest teacher of the law in Carthage. 

He remained an idolater till he was 
over forty years of age ; then he became 
a Christian. But whether we look at him 
as a private Christian, as a minister or 



T 40 Heroes of the Early Church, 

bishop, we find the same diligence mark- 
ing his Hfe and character. This made him 
successful in everything he undertook ; 
and it will have the same effect on all of 
us If we learn and practice the same im- 
portant lesson of diligence. The words 
of Solomon were true of Cyprian in the 
far-off times in which he lived, and they 
are just as true of us who are living now, 
** Seest thou a man diligent in his busi- 
ness ? he shall stand before klrigs" (Prov. 
22 : 29). This simply means that dili- 
gence will lead to success. 

2. Cyprian was an example of decision 
as well as of diligence. 

He became acquainted with a good 
Christian minister named Caecillus, who 
told him about Jesus and the truths of his 
religion. Cyprian soon saw how much 
better this rellorlon was than that in which 

o 

he had been brought up. He became 
satisfied that this was the true religion ; 
and though his family and relatives were 
all idolaters, and were very much opposed 
to the change he talked of making, and 
tried all they could to prevent him from 



Cyprian of Carthage. 143 

making It, yet he resolved to do so. He 
was baptized in the forty-sixth year of his 
age. Before this his name had been 
Thascius Cyprian ; but at his baptism he 
added to this the name of his good friend 
who had brought him to Jesus, so that as 
a Christian he was known as Thascius 
Caecihus Cyprian. Afterwards through 
all his Christian life he pursued the same 
decided course. His mind was quickly 
made up on all the important questions of 
the day. He was as diligent in following 
out the right course as he was decided in 
choosing It. And here Is a good example 
for all our young friends to follow. The 
sailor who wants to make a successful 
voyage must make up his mind as soon 
as he gets to sea what course he ought 
to steer, and then he must keep on steer- 
ing in the right course till his voyage is 
ended. 

3. We find in Cyprian an example of 
liberal piety. 

He lived honestly and freely up to the 
meaning of our Saviour's words when he 
said to all his disciples, " Freely ye have 



144 Heroes of the Early Church. 

received, freely give." When he became 
a Christian he was very rich. Among his 
possessions was a fine large house which 
he used as his home. It had a beautiful 
garden connected with it which he enjoyed 
very much; but he sold that valuable prop- 
erty, and set apart the money received 
from the sale of it for the relief of the 
poor. That was very noble in him. 

In the course of his ministry his friends, 
who were very much attached to him, 
showed their love to him by buying this 
property and giving it to him again. But 
while he was busy in his life work as 
bishop of Carthage, a very severe famine 
prevailed in that part of Africa. Thou- 
sands of the inhabitants of Carthage died 
during that terrible visitation. The suf- 
ferings of the sick and poor at that time 
were dreadful. And then Cyprian showed 
his liberality by selling that property the 
second time and using the money it 
brought him for the relief of the sick and 
starving poor. And what a beautiful 
illustration we have in this singular ex- 
perience of Cyprian, of the truth of Solo- 



Cyprian of Carthage, 145 

mon's words, when he says, " He that hath 
pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; 
and that which he hath given will he pay 
him again" (Prov. 19 : 17). We may be 
very sure that when we give anything to 
the Lord's poor he will pay us back in 
some way ; but in Cyprian's case this 
promise was literally fulfilled, and the very 
property which he lent to the Lord by 
giving to the poor, the Lord gave back to 
him. Let us remember this lesson of 
Cyprian's liberal piety and try to follow 
his example. 

4. We find in Cyprian a splendid exam- 
ple of courage. 

While he was engaged in his work as 
bishop, that dreadful disease known as the 
plague broke out in the city of Carthage. 
Multitudes of people who could afford to 
do so left the city while this pestilence was 
raging ; and those who could not get away 
were afraid to enter the houses in which 
the disease was known to prevail. There 
were large portions of the city in which 
thousands and tens of thousands were 

sick and dying with no one to nurse or 

10 



"S 



1 46 Heroes of the Early Church, 

wait upon them. And here the courage 
of Cyprian shone forth. He not only, as 
we have seen, spent his money for the re- 
lief of the sick, suffering and neglected 
ones, but he devoted his time in personal 
attention to them, and, aided by some of 
his clergy, went from house to house min- 
istering to their wants. This was courage 
of the highest character. The worship- 
pers of idols were amazed at it, and many 
were thus led to become Christians. 

And then we have a still more striking 
example of the courage of Cyprian in the 
way in which he met his death. Valerian, 
the emperor of Rome, had issued a decree 
which required that all Christians should 
be put to death who would not give up 
their religion, and sacrifice to the idols of 
Rome. Galerius Maximus, the proconsul 
of Carthaofe, in obedience to this decree 
summoned Cyprian to appear before him. 
When he was brought into his presence 
Maximus said to him, "Art thou Thascius 
Caecilius Cyprian ?" 

" I am," was the answer. 

"Art thou he," asked Maximus, "who 



Cyprian of Carthage. 147 

hath borne the highest offices of their re- 
Hglon among the Christians ?" 

''Yes,'* said Cyprian. 

" The emperor commands that you offer 
sacrifice to the gods of Rome," said the 
proconsul. 

"I will not offer sacrifice," replied Cyp- 
rian. 

'' Be persuaded^' said the proconsul, ''for 
your own sake.'' 

Cyprian's reply was, '' Do as thoit art or- 
dered ; nothing can move me from the sta?id 
I have taken.'' 

Then the sentence was pronounced: ''Let 
Thascius C^cilius Cyprian be behead- 
ed!" 

" Thanks be to God F' said Cyprian. 

" Let us die with him!" exclaimed the 
Christians around him. 

Then the brave martyr was led away to 
an open field outside the city, followed by 
a crowd of Christian friends. He put off 
his outer garments, and stood calmly 
waiting the end, clad in a long white robe. 
Then he kneeled down and commended 
his soul to God in earnest prayer. After 



1 48 Heroes of the Early Church. 

this he tied the bandage over his eyes with 
his own hands. Then one of his friends 
fastened his hands behind his back. He 
ordered a sum of money in gold, equal to 
twenty-five dollars with us, to be given to 
the executioner, in order to show that he 
had no unkind feeling toward him. Then 
he bowed himself to the earth and was 
beheaded by a single stroke of the sword. 
So ended the earthly life of this good and 
holy man. 

Let us remember his example, from the 
four different points of view from which 
we have now looked at it, and let us ask 
God for grace to follow him in the diligence^ 
the decision^ the liberal piety, and the cour- 
age which we find illustrated in the life of 
Cyprian, the martyr bishop of Carthage. 



CHAPTER X. 

EUSEBIUS OF C^SAREA. 
BORN A. D. 260 TO 270 (?); died a. d. 838 (?). 

Euseblus was a native of Palestine. He 
was born about the year 264 of the Chris- 
tian era, and died about the year 340. 
The place of his birth is somewhat un- 
certain ; but it is generally believed that 
he was born at Caesarea, which was the 
principal scene of his life's labors. He 
held the office of bishop, or the head of 
the Church there, for more than a quarter 
of a century, Of his family and early life 
we have no knowledge; but he was a 
diligent student in his youth, and devoted 
himself to the thoroufyh examination of 
both the Christian and heathen antiquities. 
And the result of these earnest studies is 
to be seen in the character which he won 
for himself. Next to Origen, he was the 

(149) 



150 Heroes of the Early Church, 

most learned of the ancient fathers of the 
Church, and from his writings he has al- 
ways been spoken of as " the father of 
ecclesiastical history." 

Before going on to speak of some of 
the lessons which his history furnishes, we 
may say a few words about Caesarea, the 
place of his birth and labors, and also of 
two very important events which took 
place during the years of his life. 




RUINS OF C^SAREA. 
(From l)r. Schaff's Bible Dictionary, by permission.) 

Caesarea was a flourishine town in Pal- 
estine on the Mediterranean coast. It 
was situated about half way between Jop- 
pa and Carmel, and was built by Herod 
the Great, who gave it the name it bore in 



Eusebius of Ccssarea, 1 5 1 

honor of Csesar the Roman emperor. 
The towns in Palestine, on the Mediter- 
ranean coast, have no natural harbors to 
protect them from the swell of that vast 
sea, whose waves break along the shore 
continually with great violence. To afford 
protection to vessels that might come to 
Caesarea, Herod built a great sea-wall or 
breakwater in front of the town. This 
was built in a circular form, so as to make a 
safe harbor for the vessels that might come 
to trade there. It swept around from the 
south and west of the town, with an en- 
trance into it from the north. There was 
room enough in that harbor for the largest 
fleets that might have occasion to anchor 
there. This breakwater was built of im- 
mense blocks of stone, brought from a 
great distance and sunk to the depth of 
twenty fathoms, or sixty feet, in the sea. 
Herod was occupied in this work about 
twelve years, and the amount of money 
expended upon it was immense. Broad 
landing-wharves surrounded the harbor. 
A beautiful temple was built in the town 
and dedicated to the emperor, and in it 



1 5 2 Heroes of the Early Church. 

there was placed a colossal statue of him. 
Other splendid buildings were also erected 
in the town, and when they were finished 
Herod fixed his abode there and made it 
the civil and military capital of Judaea. 

Caesarea was the scene of several in- 
teresting circumstances mentioned in the 
New Testament. The conversion of 
Cornelius, the first fruits of the Gentiles, 
took place here. This was the residence of 
Philip the evangelist. Here Paul resided 
for some time on returning from his third 
missionary journey. Here he was im- 
prisoned for two years, and made his fam- 
ous speech before Festus and King 
Agrippa. And it was here also, in the 
amphitheatre built by his father, that 
Herod Agrippa was smitten of God and 
died, as we read in Acts 12 : 21-23. It 
was here that Euseblus was born and 
served God as bishop of the Church for so 
many years. But now all the glory of 
this place has passed away. The ruins of 
its former splendor are all that remain of 
it. Travellers through Palestine seldom 
think of visiting Caesarea, and the only 



Eiisebius of Ccesarea. 153 

tenants of its ruins are snakes and scor- 
pions, lizards, wild boars and jackals. 

And now we will consider two impor- 
tant events which took place during the 
lifetime of Eusebius. One of these was 
the change in the goverment of the Ro- 
man empire. Durlnof the lifetime of the 
Other "heroes of the early Church" of 
whom we have already spoken, all the 
emperors of Rome were heathen men ; 
and they were all engaged, more or less, 
in persecuting the Christians in different 
parts of their empire. And this work of 
persecution still continued in the early 
part of the history of Eusebius. But 
during his lifetime a great change took 
place and persecution ceased. 

The Roman empire was then divided 
into two parts, the eastern and the west- 
ern empire. Constantlus was ruling over 
the western empire and Galerius over the 
eastern. Constantlus died in the year 
306, and appointed his son Constantine, 
afterwards called " the Great," to succeed 
him. The Roman soldiers proclaimed him 
emperor, and he took posession of the 



154 Heroes of the Early Church. 

countries of Gaul, Spain and Britlan, over 
which his father had reigned. Then he 
engaged in war with Maxentius, who had 
usurped the goverments of Italy and 
Africa. Constantine conquered Maxen- 
tius in three battles. The last of these 
was at the Milvian bridge under the walls 
of Rome. If was during this campaign 
that the wonderful event took place, in 
connection with Constantine, which led to 
the change in the goverment of the Roman 
empire, above referred to. Eusebius 
gives us the account of this strange event. 
He tells us that while Constantine was en- 
gaged in this warfare with Maxentius, he 
saw a vision in the heavens in which a 
flaming cross appeared to him, bearing 
this inscription in Latin : 

**IN HOC SIGNO VINCES." 

Translated into English the meaning of 
these words is, *' By this sign thou shalt 
conquer." Eusebius also informs us that 
Christ appeared to the emperor in a 
dream the following night, and directed 
him to take for the standard of his army 
an imitation of the fiery cross which he 



Eusebius of Ccesarea. 155 

had seen. Constantlne caused a stand- 
ard to be made in this form, which was 
called "Labarum." This was carried in 
advance of all other standards, was looked 
upon with adoration by the Christian sol- 
diers in the army, and was surrounded by 
a guard of fifty picked men. 

Lactantius, a well-known Christian 
writer of this period, confirms the above 
statement about Constantine. He also 
tells us that from this time the emperor 
confessed himself a Christian, and gave 
orders that the sign of the cross, with the 
name of Christ connected with it, should 
be put upon the shields of all his soldiers, 
and that they were thus to go forth a- 
gainst their enemies. After this, in the 
year 313, Constantine published his mem- 
orable edict of toleration in favor of 
Christianity, and ordered that all the prop- 
erty which had been taken from the 
Christians during the times of persecution 
should be restored to them. They were 
also made eligible to any public offices, 
which had not been the case before. This 
striking event marked the triumph of 



156 Helloes of the Early Church, 

Christianity and the downfall of paganism 
as the ruling power in the empire of 
Rome. From this time persecution 
ceased throughout the empire, and peace 
and prosperity attended the gospel in its 
progress. 

The other great event which took place 
during the lifetime of Eusebius was the 
holdinor of the famous Council of Nice. 
This was the first of the p-reat councils of 
the Christian Church which have been 
held from time to time. It took place in 
the year 325. Nice or Nicaea, where this 
council was held, was a large and flourish- 
ing town in Bithynia of Asia Minor. The 
council held there was the most important 
of any of the general councils of the 
Church. It w^as called together by the 
emperor Constantine for the purpose of 
considering the great doctrine of the 
divinity of our blessed Saviour, and of 
statinor the views of the Church on that 
important subject. 

A new sect had arisen in the Church 
under the leading of a minister whose 
name was Arius. He taught that Jesus 



Eusebius of Ccesarea. 157 

Christ was not a divine being, but only a 
creature. This, of course, took away the 
doctrine of the atonement. For, if Christ 
had not been a partaker of the divine 
nature, he never could have made an 
atonement for the sins of the human race. 
Such teaching led to the most serious con- 
troversies in the Church. And we cannot 
wonder at this ; for when the divinity of 
Christ is denied, the foundation on which 
all the most precious and important truths 
of our holy religion rest is taken away. 
There seemed to be no other way of set- 
tling this great matter than by calling a 
council of the whole Church to consider 
this subject, and to state clearly what the 
real truth was in reference to it. 

It was this view of the matter which led 
Constantine to call the council of the 
Church to meet together in the city of 
Nice. Three hundred and eighteen bish- 
ops were present at this council repre- 
senting every portion of the Christian 
Church. In connection with the divinity 
of Christ, they had many other of the im- 
portant doctrines of the Bible to consider. 



158 Heroes of the Early Church, 

Their sessions were continued for two 
whole months. And, as a result of their 
deliberations, they declared the truth as 
held by them, not only on the subject of 
the divinity of Christ, but on all the other 
leading doctrines of the gospel. The 
statement of truth which they set forth is 
called "The Nicene Creed." This creed is 
held and used by the Church of England 
and the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
this country to the present day. In refer- 
ence to our Lord Jesus Christ, this creed 
declares that he is " the only-begotten Son 
of God, begotten of the Father before all 
worlds ; God of God, Light of light, very 
God of very God, begotten, not made, be- 
ing of one substance with the Father ; by 
whom all things were made." No more 
important statement of truth was ever 
made by man than that which is embodied 
in this creed. And we may well thank 
God that the Council of Nice was led to 
prepare and publish it for us. And when 
we think of Eusebius, it is pleasant to 
connect his name with a work which had 
?o much to do with preserving through all 



Eusebius of CcBsarea. 159 

ages "the truth as it is in Jesus." 
And now we come to consider the his- 
tory of Eusebius* own Hfe. In this there 
are two points of view from which we may 
think of him, and each of them teaches us 
an important lesson. 

I. From the facts of his history, we see 
him acting as a faithful and an unfailing' 
frie7id. He had a friend named Pamphilus, 
to whom he was very much attached. 
Pamphilus was a minister of the Church 
at Caesarea. He was a very learned man 
and a most earnest and devoted Christian. 
He wrote a number of useful works, and 
spent a great part of his time in copying 
portions of the Bible and giving them 
away to those who desired to know the 
way of salvation. 

What we are to tell you happened dur- 
ing the reign of the emperor Maximianus, 
who was a great persecutor of the Chris- 
tians. He once came to Caesarea to cele- 
brate his birthday. This was done with 
great parade and show. To make the ex- 
hibitions more impressive, a number of 
Christians were brought out to be tortured 



1 60 Heroes of the Early Church, 

and put to death. Among these was 
Pamphilus, the friend of Eusebius. 

In the presence of the emperor he was 
called upon to renounce Christianity and 
sacrifice to the gods of Rome. He re- 
fused to do this, and neither threats nor 
promises could lead him to change his 
mind. Then the emperor was very angry, 
and ordered him to be delivered to the 
tormentors. They racked his sides and 
tore off the flesh with red-hot pincers. But 
he stood as firm as a rock and bore his 
torture calmly. Finding that no impres- 
sion could be made upon him, he was sent 
back to prison and was kept there for two 
years. And it is just here that the faith- 
fulness of his friend Eusebius comes into 
view. Not all the disgrace and torture 
inflicted on Pamphilus could keep Eu- 
sebius away from him. He was a con- 
stant visitor to him in prison. He soothed 
his sorrows, alleviated his sufferings and 
was constantly striving, in every possible 
way, to cheer and comfort him. They 
read and studied tocrether, and wrote such 
articles as were called for by the neces- 



Eusebius of Ccesarea. i6i 

sides of the times, to comfort those who 
were suffering from persecution, and to 
strengthen the faith of all in the teachings 
of Scripture. And it was because of this 
strong attachment of Eusebius to his 
friend, and his unfailing faithfulness to him 
in the time of trouble, that their names 
were blended together and he w^as called 
Eusebius Pamphili. And the example 
here set us, of faithfulness in friendship, 
is one that we should all try to follow. 
Many of the friends we meet with in this 
life are only friends in prosperity. When 
trouble comes they turn away and leave 
us. But it was not so with Eusebius, and 
it should not be so with us. The old prov- 
erb says, "• A friend in need is a friend 
indeed." And the opposite statement is 
equally true ; for one who is not a friend 
in need is not a friend indeed. 

2. Furthermore, in studying the history 
of Eusebius we find that he sets us a7i ex- 
ainple of doing good. He did good in two 
opposite ways. One was by what he 
gathered, and the other by what he scat- 
tered. It was by what he gathered that 



1 62 Heroes of the Early Church. 

Euseblus was able to write his ecclesiasti- 
cal history. This was the great life-work 
with which his name is particularly con- 
nected. This history consists of ten 
books. These books tell us about all the 
chief events which took place during the 
first three centuries of the Christian 
Church. No one else had ever written 
carefully on this subject. And if it were 
not for what Eusebius has written, we 
should all be in the dark about what took 
place during those centuries. In writing 
this history he had to make a path for 
himself, where there had never been a 
path made before. And the history which 
Eusebius wrote was not made up of his 
own thoughts and fancies, but of the act- 
ual facts which took place as the years of 
those centuries rolled on. And how did 
he get the knowledge of those facts ? It 
was just the diligent gathering of which 
we are now speaking. He had to go here 
and there and everywhere, gathering in- 
formation about the men who had been 
active in the Church's work, and what 
their activity led them to do. This was 



Eusebius of Ccesarea. 163 

the material out of which the history of 
the Church in those centuries was made 
up. It was a possible thing to gather that 
material together at the time when Eu- 
sebius lived. But, if he had not gathered 
it then, it would have been too late for any 
to gather it after he had passed away. 
And so we see how all the good which has 
been done by the ecclesiastical history 
which Eusebius wrote is to be traced up 
to his diligence in gathering. He followed 
out, literally, our Saviour's command to 
his disciples, after feeding the hungry 
thousands with five barley loaves, when he 
said, '' Gather up the fragments that re- 
main, that nothing be lost." Eusebius did 
good by what he gathered, and we may 
do the same. 

But then Eusebius did good by what 
he scattered as well as by what he gathered, 
and we may follow his example here also. 
A letter has been preserved which was 
written to Eusebius by the emperor Con- 
stantine about the year 330. His name 
had been recently given to the great city 
which has ever since been called Constan- 



1 64 Heroes of the Early Church. 

tinople, and he had transferred to it the 
seat of his empire. In the letter referred 
to, the emperor speaks of his great inter- 
est in this city, and his desire for its spirit- 
ual improvement. He gave Eusebius 
authority to have several churches built 
there at his expense. And he especially 
expresses the great desire he felt to have 
the Holy Scriptures circulated through 
that city. There was no Bible-house in 
Constantinople then, as there is now, 
where printed copies of the Scriptures 
could be had. And so the emperor 
authorized Eusebius to have copies of the 
Bible written on sheets of parchment and 
properly bound, and then to be given to 
the people. This was to be done at the 
emperor's expense. And this was one of 
the principal works that Eusebius was en- 
gaged in during the latter years of his 
life. Eusebius did good by what he gather- 
ed 2.vidi by what he scattered, and in both these 
ways he sets us an example which it would 
be well for us all to follow. 



CHAPTER XI. 

ATHANASIUS THE GREAT. 

BORN A. D. 296 (?); DIED A. D. 873 (?). 

Here we have the name of one of the 
noblest heroes and grandest characters in 
that period of the Church's history which 
we are now considering. 

Athanasius was born in the city of Alex- 
andria in Egypt, in the year 296 a.d., just 
at the close of the third century. His life- 
work ran through the greater part of the 
fourth century. For forty-six years he 
was the bishop of Alexandria. This was 
one of the most famous cities of the East. 
In was situated on the northern coast of 
Africa, near the mouth of the river Nile. 
It was founded in the year 332 B.C. by that 
celebrated conqueror, Alexander the Great, 
This city was three miles long and seven 
miles broad. The streets crossed each 

(165) 



1 66 • Heroes of the Early Church, 

other at right angles, as is the case with 
the city of Philadelphia. In the height of 
its prosperity Alexandria is said to have 
had a population of 600,000 inhabitants. 
In its size and orrandeur it ranked next to 

o 

Rome, then the great capital of the 
world. In its day it was one of the chief 
centres of learning in the world. It has 
passed through many changes since then, 
but still continues a flourishing city, with 
a population of about 60,000. 

1 had the pleasure of visiting Alex- 
andria some years ago, when on my way 
to the Holy Land. The steamer which 
brought us from the south of Europe 
landed us at this famous city, as we wished 
to see the Pyramids and the Nile before 
entering Palestine. Some distance from 
the city were several famous obelisks, or 
large square columns, each made of a 
single block of stone sixty or seventy feet 
long and tapering to the end like a pyra- 
mid. One of them was called Pompey's 
Pillar, and two are known as Cleopatra's 
Needles. These are very ancient, and 
strangers feel a great interest in visiting 



Athanasius the Great, 167 

them. One of Cleopatra's Needles has 
been given to the English goverment, and 
now stands on the banks of the river 
Thames ; another was given to our coun- 
try, and may be seen in the great Central 
Park of the city of New York. 

In this city of Alexandria was the scene 
of the life and labors of Athanasius, one 
of the noblest heroes of the early Church, 
whose history we are now considering. 

He is the only one of their number, ex- 
cept Basil, to whom the term gi^eat has 
been generally applied. He was justly 
entitled to it. He was not called upon, as 
many of those brave men were, to lay 
down his life as a martyr in defence of the 
truth of the Bible; but he had the privi- 
lege of spending all his days in support- 
ing that truth in its purity, and of spread- 
ing it abroad in its power. 

The parents of Athanasius were intelli- 
gent Christians, and he had, from his 
earliest years, the advantage of the best 
possible training and instruction. Cave, 
the well-known English writer, to whom 
we are indebted for the best history of the 



1 68 He7'oes of the Early Church. 

lives of the apostolic fathers, gives an In- 
teresting incident that took place in con- 
nection with Athanasius when he was a 
boy. On one occasion a company of 
eight or ten boys, from seven or eight to 
twelve or thirteen years old, were playing 
on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. 
Athanasius was among them, and he was 
the oldest of the company. Alexander, 
the bishop of the church in that town, and 
whose house stood upon the shore near 
where the boys were, was waiting for some 
of his clergy who had been invited to dine 
with him. While waiting thus he was in- 
terested in watching the boys on the 
shore. He found to his surprise that they 
were playing church. Athanasius had 
been appointed their bishop. Two of the 
next-older boys were acting as ministers. 
Three of the younger boys, who had never 
been baptized, were brought forward as 
candidates for baptism. The service was 
gone through with as orderly and sol- 
emnly as though they had really been in 
church. At the close of the service the 
verse of a hymn was sung, and the bene- 



Atha7iasius the Great. 169 

diction pronounced by the boy-bishop and 
the congregation went home. 

After Alexander the bishop had enter- 
tained his clerical friends at dinner, he 
sent for Athanaslus and had a talk with 
him ; and finding that he had not done 
this for mere sport, but because of the 
great Interest he felt In religion and of his 
earnest desire to become a minister, Alex- 
ander sent for the father of Athanaslus 
and urged him to have his son educated 
for the ministry. He was accordingly put 
through the most complete and thorough 
education to fit him for that high ofifice. 
He was only twenty-three years of age 
when he was ordained to the ministry and 
entered on Its sacred duties. We do not 
know how long he was engaged in the 
studies which were to prepare him for the 
ministry. In my own case It took ten 
years ; and If Athanaslus was anything 
like as long as that in his preparation, then 
he must have been very young when he 
began his Christian life. And in every 
age of the Church's history the most ac- 
tive and useful men have always been 



1 70 Heroes of the Early Church. 

those who began to serve God when they 
were young. We see this in the case of 
the good men of whom we read in the 
Bible. There were Joseph, and Moses, 
and Samuel, and David, and Josiah, and 
Jeremiah, and Daniel, and John the Bap- 
tist, and Timothy. These were among the 
most useful and honored servants of God 
that the Church has ever known ; and they 
all began to serve God early. Athanasius 
did the same ; and he made careful and 
earnest preparation for his life-work, by 
much study of the Scriptures. When this 
was finished the bishop took him into his 
own family as his private secretary ; and 
when Athanasius had reached his twenty- 
third year, he ordained him to the ministry, 
and had him engaged as his assistant in 
the work of the church of which he had 
charge. 

Here we have the introduction of 
Athanasius to that important life-work in 
which he was occupied for more than half 
a century; and in studying his history 
through all those years, we shall see how 
well he deserved to be called Athanasius 



Athanasius the Great. 171 

the Great. There are four points of view 
from which we may contemplate this 
greatness. 

He was great in his defe^ice of the truth. 
Only six years after he had been ordained 
to the ministry, the Council of Nice was 
summoned by the emperor Constantine. 
It was to take action in regard to the 
erroneous teaching of Arius, who had de- 
nied the divinity of Christ, and was tcach- 
inof that fatal error wherever he went. 

A great many members of the church, 
as well as ministers and bishops, were led 
away by these wrong views about the 
nature and character of our Saviour, Jesus 
Christ. They admitted that he was a 
good man, but they did not believe that 
he was God. This was fearful. If Jesus 
is not a divine being — if he is not the only 
begotten Son of God, equal to the Father 
in all things — then his death never could 
have atoned for our sins ; he never could 
have made us righteous before God by 
anything that he has done for us; and 
then the gospel would lose all its power 
and preciousness. 



172 He7^oes of the Early Church. 

But Athanaslus was not led away by 
these errors. He studied the Scriptures 
dihgently, with earnest prayer that God 
would help him to understand the truth. 
God heard his prayer and helped him; and 
the result was that in an age of abounding 
error he had a clear and intelligent under- 
standing of the truth as it is in Jesus. 
He had so much to say about the doctrine 
of the Trinity, and said it so clearly and 
so boldly, that he has always been regard- 
ed as the great champion of this impor- 
tant doctrine. His name has been con- 
nected with one of the creeds used by the 
church of England, which is called the 
" Athanasian Creed; " not because he was 
the author of it, but because he was so 
brave a defender of the doctrines which it 
contains. 

Three hundred and eighteen bishops 
were present at the Council of Nice. 
Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, was 
among those who attended. He took 
Athanasius with him, because he was clear 
and decided in his views of the doctrine 
in question, and because he knew he 



Athanasms the Great. 173 

would be very useful in setting forth and 
upholding the teachings of Scripture on 
this important subject. 

There were three parties present at that* 
council. One was made up of those who 
held the orthodox trinitarian view respect- 
ing Christ. They believed that he was 
not only the Son of God, but was a par- 
taker of the same nature with the Father. 
The second party was composed of the 
Arians, who denied the doctrine alto- 
gether. The third party was made up of 
those whose views were not clear on this 
subject, and who wished to form a creed 
which should be so expressed that both 
the other parties, the Orthodox and the 
Arians, would be willing to sign it. The 
great controversy in that council had 
reference to this point. But the Ortho- 
dox party were not willing to do this. 
They felt perfectly satisfied that the doc- 
trine in question was a matter of too 
great importance to be expressed in a 
doubtful or uncertain way. While this 
controversy was going on, there was no 
one present in the council who had clearer 



1 74 Heroes of the Early Church, 

views on this subject, or who expressed 
them more strongly, than Athanasius. He 
never would listen for a moment to any 
•other statement of this doctrine than that 
which was set forth in the Nicene Creed. 
This declares that Christ is not only a 
divine being, but that he is a partaker of 
the smne nature with the Father. And so 
the important matter was settled in this 
very way. Then the views of Arius on 
this subject were condemned by the coun- 
cil, while Arius himself was deposed from 
the ministry and sent into banishment. 

The stand which Athanasius took on 
this subject at the council, he maintained 
unflinchingly through all the days of his 
life. Many of those who signed the creed 
then adopted afterwards changed their 
views and signed a creed more favorable 
to the Arians ; but Athanasius never 
would do this. 

Not long after the Council of Nice, 
Alexander the bishop of the church in 
Alexandria died, and Athanasius was 
elected to be his successor. This was an 
occasion of great joy to his friends in that 



Athanasius the Great. 175 

city. They felt sure that he was just the 
man for the position, and that as he had 
done so much to secure the adoption of 
the Nicene Creed, he would be most faith- 
ful in helping to maintain and defend the 
views expressed in it. And this is just 
what he did. 

A few years after the Council of Nice, 
the emperor Constantine was persuaded 
by the friends of Arius to issue a decree 
for his release from banishment, his return 
to Alexandria his former place of abode, 
and for his entrance again upon the work 
of the ministry there. Then the emperor 
wrote to Athanasius ordering him to re- 
ceive Arius again into the communion of 
the Church. In answer to this letter 
Athanasius told the emperor that under 
no circumstances whatever would he re- 
ceive into the Church one who had been 
condemned by the Council of Nice for 
denying the divinity of the blessed 
Saviour. And when the emperor said 
that he must either receive Arius again 
into the Church or resig^n his office of 
bishop and go into banishment, Athanasius 



176 Heroes of the Early Church. 

showed his greatness in the defence of the 
truth by giving up his high office and go- 
ing into banishment. 

2. Athanasius was great in the trials 
through which he passed in support of the 
truth. He was thirty years old when he 
was chosen to be bishop of the Church in 
Alexandria. He retained that office for 
forty-two years. During that time he was 
on ^v^ different occasions driven into 
banishment. These banishments took up 
altogether twenty years of that part of his 
life In which the office of head of the 
church of Alexandria of right belonged to 
him. The cause of all these changes and 
the trouble resultinor from them was found 

o 

In the Arian controversy. Nothing could 
lead him for a moment to think of chang- 
ing his views, or of giving up what he 
knew to be the truth about these things. 
No matter how many persons held differ- 
ent views from himself on this great sub- 
ject, neither their number nor their power 
made any difference to him. He was 
earnest in holding on to the truth. In one 
, of the controversies held on this subject 




Obelisks as tliey were at Alexandria. 



Atha7tasius the Great. 179 

his adversaries told him that the world 
was against him. ''Very well," said he; 
''then let it be known that Athanasius is 
against the world." There was something 
noble in this. Athanasius' love for the 
truth connected with the character and 
work of Christ as taught in the Scriptures, 
his unfaltering defence of that truth and 
his unwillingness to show any sympathy 
with those who denied it, led the members 
of the Arian party to be untiring in their 
persecution of him.. Every time that he 
returned from banishment, his friends in 
Alexandria would rejoice and be exceed- 
ing glad over the event. But his enemies 
the Arians would begin again to plot for 
his removal once more. They would 
make all sorts of false accusations against 
him to the emperor, charging him with 
fraud and dishonesty and immorality, and 
even murder. And they would never rest 
from these efforts till he was once more 
under sentence of banishment or threat- 
ened with death. At one time he would 
be sent to a strange city, now in one 
direction and then in another ; at another 



1 80 Heroes of the Early Church. 

time he would be sent Into the desert; and 
the last time he was driven from home, in 
his old age, he had to hide himself in his 
father's tomb, outside of the city, and there 
he lived alone for months. Out of the 
forty-six years in which he was bishop, 
twenty were spent In exile from his home 
and friends, living In the desert or other 
strange places. And yet notwithstanding 
all the suffering thus brought upon him, 
the thought of giving up the truth he had 
been taught never entered his mind. He 
went steadily on in the midst of all these 
trials and persecutions, — a splendid ex- 
ample of persevering piety. He never 
allowed anything to Interfere with the 
work he had to do for God and for his 
fellow men ; and It Is those who learn to 
persevere who meet with the most success 
In life. How trying such an experience 
of life must have been ! and how nobly 
the greatness of his character comes out 
to view when we remember that all these 
long years of trouble came upon him 
simply as the result of his unfaltering 
faithfulness In standing up for '* the truth 



Athanasius the Great. i8i 

as it Is in Jesus"! In this view of his 
character how well he deserves to be 
called Athanasius the Great ! 

3. We see his greatness in the way in 
which he bore his trials. He never gave 
way to repining or fault-finding in the ex- 
perience of them. When obliged again 
and again to leave his home and the 
church he so much loved, and go among 
strangers or to the solitary desert, he 
always resolved it into the will of God, 
and went on his way sustained and cheered 
by an unfaltering trust that God never 
makes a mistake, but orders all things 
wisely and w^ell for his people. He had 
learned when trouble came to look up 
with confidence to his Father in heaven 
and say, " Thy will be done." And then 
he waited patiently for the Lord's time to 
come, when the way would open for him 
to return to his home and friends and 
church again. If his place of banishment 
was a foreign city, he would strive in 
various ways to make himself useful to 
those about him there. If he was sent to 
the desert, he would seek out some cave 



1 82 Heroes of the Early Church. 

or sheltered corner as his place of abode, 
and then would occupy himself in writing 
on the subjects of controversy which en- 
gaged the thoughts of Christian people 
in those days. Here are two incidents 
which illustrate the spirit in which he met 
the perils that surrounded him. 

On one occasion the Arians, with a 
company of soldiers, surrounded the 
church in which Athanasius had met his 
congregation for the purpose of celebra- 
ting the Lord's Supper with them. Leav- 
ing part of their force outside of the 
church, the soldiers entered with drawn 
swords and began to slaughter the people 
on the right hand and on the left. Shrieks 
and screams filled the church. Athanasius 
was sitting calmly in his chair near the 
pulpit. Perfectly unmoved by the terri- 
ble sight, he called on one of the deacons 
to sing the one-hundred-and-thirty-six 
psalm. The deacon sang the first part of 
the verse, ''O give thanks unto the Lord," 
and Athanasius and those about him 
joined in the chorus — " for his mercy en- 
dureth forever." After singing a few 



Athanasius the Great. 183 

verses, as the soldiers were coming for- 
ward, the clergy and friends about him 
urged him to leave the church. Rising 
from his chair, he said he would not stir a 
step till they went out. Then they formed 
a circle around him and managed to get 
him safely out from the end of the church 
which they occupied. 

On another occasion the emperor Julian 
— who had once been a professing Chris- 
tian, but had apostatized and gone back to 
the worship of the heathen gods — sent an 
order to the governor of Egypt to have 
Athanasius driven from Alexandria and 
from Egypt. When this was known his 
friends gathered around him and began 
to lament with loud cries and tears. But 
Athanasius said, " Be of good cheer, my 
friends. Let us give way a little. This is 
but a small cloud, and will soon blow 
over." After this he took a boat and be- 
gan to sail up the Nile towards the des- 
ert. He had no sooner gone than an 
officer with some soldiers went in pursuit, 
to take him prisoner. When they learn- 
ed which way he had gone, they went after 



1 84 Heroes of the Early Church. 

him. His friends at home sent him word 
of this. On receiving this message, the 
friends in the boat with him tried to per- 
suade him to go ashore and get out of 
their way. "No," he rephed; "let us 
rather go and meet our executioner, that 
he may know that greater Is he that is 
with us than he that is aealnst us." Then 
he ordered the steersman to turn the boat 
and go back towards Alexandria. Soon 
after the officer and his soldiers came up 
to them. He did not know Athanasius, 
and never imagined that he would be go- 
ing back to Alexandria. He only In- 
quired if they had seen Athanasius. They 
said " Yes, he was not far off" Thus they 
got safe back to Alexandria, and then 
Athanasius concealed himself till this 
storm passed over, which it did in a little 
while. Many other instances might be 
given showing how Athanasius escaped 
perils. 

4. We see his greatness hi the mnount 
of good he did. He did great good with 
his writings. These were very numerous. 
A list of between fifty and sixty of his 



Athanasius the Great. 1B5 

works has come down to us. I do not 
mean that he wrote this number of vol- 
umes. He did write some volumes: He 
wrote a volume containing a commentary 
on the Psalms and one on the Incarnation, 
and several others. But the rest of his 
writings were letters or sermons on differ- 
ent matters of doctrine and practice which 
bore on the controversies of that ao^e. 
These were just what the Church then 
needed, and were eminently useful. His 
writings were all clear, strong, eloquent 
and persuasive. He was not satisfied 
with any amount of mere argument in 
handling a subject that was before him; 
but his constant aim was to settle every 
point on the clear testimony of Scripture. 
And this was one thing that helped to 
make his writings so useful. A leading 
clergyman of his time, in writing to a 
young man who was studying for the 
ministry, said, '' If you ever meet with any- 
thing that Athanasius has written, take a 
copy of it at once ; and if you have no paper 
on which to transcribe it, write the chief 
points of it on some part of your dress." 



1 86 Helloes of the Early Church. 

And then not by his writings only, but 
by his words and actions, Athanasius made 
himself useful to all about him. One of 
the leading writers of his age thus speaks 
of him : — " He was humble in his mind, as 
he was sublime in his life. He was a 
man of the noblest virtue, and yet so kind 
and gentle that any one might speak free- 
ly to him. He had so governed himself, 
that his life was a continuous sermon; and 
his sermons never needed any correc- 
tions. All ranks and conditions of men 
could find something: in him to admire and 
imitate. He was a comfort to the sorrov/- 
ing, a staff to the aged, a guide to the 
young and a benefactor to the poor. He 
was a friend to the widow, a father to the 
fatherless, a shelter to the stranger, a 
physician to the sick ; and, as the apostle 
said, *he became all things to all men, that 
he might gain the more.' He was con- 
sidered by those who knew him as the 
model of what a minister of Christ should 
be. He was a light to all about him, a 
pillar of faith, a second John the Baptist" 
That was what the men of his generation 



Athanasius the Great. 187 

thought of him. He stood amidst the 
floods of strife and contention then pre- 
vaiHng, as unmoved as the soHd rock 
stands while the waves of the sea are 
dashing upon it. And when we think of 
Athanasius in defence of the truth, in the 
pecuHar trials he had to bear, in the spirit 
in which he met these trials, and in his 
wonderful usefulness, we see how he may 
well be called Athanasius the Great. 



CHAPTER XII. 

JULIAN THE APOSTATE. 

The well-known person of whom we are 
now to speak was not one of the heroes 
of the Church. He might have become 
a hero ; instead he was an enemy of the 
Church, and tried hard to effect its over- 
throw. He lived at the same time with 
Athanasius, of whom we wrote in the 
former chapter. It is because he was once 
a professor of the Christian religion and 
then became one of the most bitter and 
wicked opposers of the truth, which the 
heroes were spreading, that we speak of 
him here. His course was a very singular 
one, and the lessons we may learn from 
his history are striking and profitable. 

Let us glance briefly at the leading facts 
of Julian's life, and then consider three sug- 
gestive lessons taught us by those facts. 

(188) 




MODERN ATHENS. 
On tlie left and right, in the foreground, are seen parts of the modern 
city. In the centre is the temple of Theseus. On the hill is the Parthenon. 




ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS, AS IT WAS. 



yulian the Apostate. 191 

Julian Is called " the Apostate " because, 
although he was brought up In the Chris- 
tian religion, and made a profession of his 
faith in it while young, yet when he was 
made emperor he renounced Christianity 
and became a worshipper of the old 
heathen gods, and tried to destroy the re- 
ligion of Christ. 

Julian was born in the year 331, and 
died, from a wound received in a battle 
with the Persians, in the year 363. He 
w^as a nephew of that distinguished man 
Constantine the Great, who was the first 
Christian emperor that Rome ever had. 
He spent his early years in the earnest 
and diligent study of poetry and philos- 
ophy, and other branches of education. In 
several of the most famous seats of learn- 
ing, and especially at the University of 
Athens. He was a man of pleasing 
manners and of excellent morality. 

He was proclaimed emperor of Rome 
in 361, when he was just thirty years of 
age. He set himself at once earnestly to 
the work of reopening the old heathen 
temples and restoring the worship of 



192 Heroes of the Early Church. 

Jupiter and other idols. His purpose was 
to overturn the Christian religion ; and 
how far he might have succeeded in carry- 
ing out this object had his life been pro- 
longed no one can tell ; but before he had 
reigned two years he met his death as we 
have already described. And now let us 
look at the lessons taught us by his life. 

I. We see illustrated in the history of 
Julian the Apostate, the loss a child sustains 
who does 7iot have a pious, loving mother to 
mould his character. 

This is something which Julian never 
had. His mother died when he was but a 
few months old. A mother's love and a 
mother's care were blessings he did not 
know. If he had only been blessed with 
a mother's voice to instruct him and a 
mother's hand to direct his steps, how 
different the history of his life might have 
been ! 

** It is a well-known fact," says one, ** that 
the most distinguished men who have 
adorned the Church by their virtues, or 
who have served their country by their 
noble actions, have been men who had en- 



Julian the Apostate, 193 

joyed the privilege of receiving from pious 
mothers the high-toned principles of 
morality and duty by which they were in- 
fluenced." 

The mother of our great and good 
Washington was a shining example of 
piety and purity, and we see those virtues 
reproduced In her Illustrious son. John 
Ouincy Adams' mother was distinguished 
for her intelligence and piety, and her son 
said, ** I owe all I am to my mother." The 
mother of John Wesley was remarkable 
for her intelligence, piety and active 
ability ; and she is justly called " the 
mother of IVIethodlsm." Benjamin West, 
that distinguished artist, ascribed his re- 
nown to his mother's kiss. When quite 
young he drew a sketch of his little baby 
sister asleep in her cradle. In that rough 
outline his mother saw the evidence of 
genius, and in her maternal pride she 
kissed her son. In after life West used to 
say, " That kiss made me an artist." Let 
me say to the readers of these pages, "My 
young friends, if you are blessed with a 
pious mother, thank God for it. Listen to 

13 



1 94 Heroes of the Early Church. 

her words; obey and honor her." If JuHan 
had been blessed with such a mother, and 
had minded her, he never would have been 
known as the Apostate. 

2. We see illustrated in the history of 
Julian the importance of having a good 
foM7idation on which to build our religious 
character. 

Julian did not have such a foundation. 
He never really learned to know and love 
the Saviour. His heart was never chang- 
ed, and he knew not what it was to be 
made a new creature in Christ Jesus. And 
so he was just like the man of whom our 
Saviour speaks in the parable (Matt. 7 : 
26, 27), who built his house on the sand, 
without a foundation. When the rains 
descended, and the winds blew, and the 
floods came and beat upon that house, it 
fell, and great was the fall of it. And it 
was just so with Julian. He built the 
house of his Christian profession on the 
sand. He had no proper foundation for 
it to stand on ; and when Satan tempted 
him to give up his religion, he did so, and 
then indeed the ruin of his house was 



Julian the Apostate, 195 

great. It caused the failure of his plans 
for Jife. In addition to this, he lost his 
soul by It, and this was to lose every- 
thing. 

In building up the house of our relig- 
ious character let us be sure that we get 
down to the solid rock and find a good 
foundation there. I mean by this that we 
should learn truly to know and love Jesus 
and have our hearts changed by him. This 
is the true foundation on which to build. 
If we build here we are safe. No matter 
how the rain descends or the winds blow 
or the floods come, our house will never 
fall, because It Is built on the " Rock of 
ages." No matter how much Satan may 
tempt us, we shall never turn our back on 
Jesus and become 'apostates like Julian. 
Jesus said to his disciples, " My sheep . . . 
shall never perish, neither shall any man 
pluck them out of my hand" (John 10: 
27, 28). Let us be sure that we really 
know and love Jesus, for thus we become 
his sheep, and then we are safe forever, 
in spite of all that Satan or any of our 
enemies can do. 



196 Heroes of the Early Church, 

3. We find illustrated in Julian's history 
the folly of setting ourselves againsU the 
plans and purposes of God. 

When Julian renounced the religion of 
Christ, and made up his mind to establish 
the old heathen religion in the place of it, 
he was setting himself deliberately and 
decidedly against the purpose of God. 
And what was the result? It is just what 
might have been expected. Job asks the 
question, " Who hath hardened himself 
against him, and hath prospered ?" (Job 
9:4.) 

Two events In the life of Julian may be 
referred to as illustrating the truth of Job's 
words. One of these was what he under- 
took to do at Jerusalem. He knew that 
the purpose of God was to have that city 
and its temple remain in ruins ; but he 
made up his mind to upset that purpose, 
and have Jerusalem rebuilt. In trying to 
do this he caused great quantities of 
materials of various kinds to be collected 
together, and committed the carrying out 
of this plan to an agent of his. The Jews 
of course heartily supported this work. 



yulian the Apostate, 



197 



Even their women took part in it, carrying 
off the earth which covered the temple in 
the laps of their garments. But the work, 
we are told, was suddenly stopped in a 
marvellous way by means of a fire, a v/hirl- 




wind and an earthquake. The buildings 
in process of erection were thrown down ; 
many persons perished in this way, and 
the undertaking was abandoned. We 
have a suggestive view of this strange 
event in the picture. 



1 98 Heroes of the Early Church, 

The other event which Illustrates the 
point of the subject now before us is seen 
in the way in which the life of Julian was 
brought to an end. We are told that 
when he started on his last expedition into 
Persia, he said to some of his friends, " I 
will go and put an end to this war in Per- 
sia, and then I will return and overturn 
the religion of Christ." 

He went on that journey; but in one of 
the first battles with the Persians an arrow 
pierced his side. It soon became manifest 
that this wound w^ould cause his death ; 
and as he lay bleeding there, we are told 
that he took a bowl in his hand, let the 
blood from his wound flow into it, and 
then, throwing the contents of the bowl 
towards heaven, exclaimed, "Thou hast 
conquered, O thou Galilean !" Thus Ju- 
lian died, in the thirty-second year of his 
age. Disappointment and death were the 
result which came to Julian from setting 
himself against the plans and purposes of 
God ; and a similar experience is all that 
can be expected by any who follow his ex- 
ample. We cannot prosper when we try 



yulian the Apostate. 199 

to do what is contrary to the will of God. 
Unhappiness, disappointment and ruin 
must be the result in every such case. 
Then let us resolve never to tread in Ju- 
lian's footsteps in this respect. The only 
safe and wise thing for each of us to do is 
to obey the voice which comes to us from 
God's word saying, ** Acquaint now thy- 
self with him, and be at peace : thereby 
good shall come unto thee" (Job 22 : 21). 



CHAPTER XIII. 

BASIL THE GREAT. 

BORN A. D. 329 (?); DIED A. D. 379 (?). 

Basil is the next '' hero " that comes be- 
fore us in the catalogue of the good men 
whose history we are studying. Basil was 
born at Caesarea, in Palestine, in the year 
329, and died there in 379, when he was 
only about fifty years old. He never was 
very strong in health, and the earnestness 
with which he entered upon and prosecu- 
ted the important duties that devolved up- 
on him in connection with the Church had 
much to do with the shortening of his 
days. He was connected, on the side both 
of his father and mother, with ancient and 
very honorable families. His father had 
occupied very distinguished positions both 
in the army and goverment of his country. 
He was also a man of great piety, and 

(200) 



Basil the Great. 201 

had done much, both by his labors and his 
sufferings, to build up and defend the 
cause of Christianity. Basil's parents had 
ten children, of whom he was the oldest. 
His father, after whom he was named, his 
mother Emmelia, and his grandmother 
Macerina, who were all earnest Christians, 
united together in giving him, from his 
earliest childhood, the most careful Christ- 
ian education. They sowed the seed of 
scriptural truth in his mind and heart; and 
the seed thus sown took root, sprang up, 
and bore abundant fruit, to their joy, to 
the good of others, and to the glory of 
God. 

Basil acted a very important part in the 
history of the Church in the latter part 
of the fourth century, of our era. The 
title of " Great " was g-iven to him. He 
is always spoken of as Basil the Great. 
And he well deserved this title. We may 
speak of four things in connection with 
him w^hich show him to have been really 
great. 

I . He was great in his learning. Caesa- 
rea was famous for its schools and institu- 



202 Heroes of the Early Church, 

tlons of learning. Basil went through all 
of them, one after another. Then he went 
to Constantinople. This had been made 
the imperial city of the eastern empire. 
Some of the most distinguished professors 
of philosophy that were in the world were 
to be found there. Basil availed himself 
of those rare advantages. He learned all 
that those p-reat men could teach in their 
several departments. Then he went to 
Athens. This had long been known as 
the most celebrated seat of learning to be 
found in the world. Here he had the best 
opportunity of finding out all that could 
be known about grammar, rhetoric, philos- 
ophy, arithmetic, geometry, mathematics, 
astronomy, history, languages, and every 
branch of human learning. And when his 
mind was enriched by all these boundless 
stores of human knowledge, he devoted 
himself to the careful and diligent study of 
the Scriptures. When we think of him, 
on the one hand, as taught by God's bless- 
ed Spirit, and then, on the other hand, as 
having all these boundless stores of know- 
ledge from which to draw his illustrations 



Basil the Great. 203 

of the great truths of the Bible, we can 
easily understand what a blessed influence 
for good he must have exerted as a teach- 
er and defender of the word of God. 
Among all the ministers of the Church in 
his day there was none to be compared 
to him. He made use of his great learn- 
ing by engaging in earnest controversy 
with the Arians and all the other teachers 
of heresy. He was able so clearly to 
point out the errors which they taught, that 
they were afraid to meet him in argument. 
They could not answer the clear, strong 
statements which he made in pointing out 
their erroneous teachino-s. And when he 

o 

stood boldly forth in defence of the great 
truths of the Bible, the false teachers of 
those days would flee before him, just as 
the Philistines fled after David had van- 
quished Goliath, the great Philistine giant, 
who stood forth and defied any in Israel 
to meet him in battle. And when we 
think of this " hero of the early Church," 
standing, as he did, head and shoulders 
above all the men of his generation in 
this respect, we do not wonder when we 



204 Heroes of the Early Church. 

hear him spoken of as Basil the Great. He 
was great in his learning. 

2. Basil was great in his piety. We see 
his great piety in the simplicity and self- 
denial of his life. His manner of living 
was of the very plainest possible charac- 
ter. He seemed always to remember 
what Jesus said of himself: "The foxes 
have holes, and the birds of the air have 
nests, but the Son of man hath not where 
to lay his head." And though our Saviour 
did not leave any command to his disci- 
ples to live in the same way, yet Basil 
seemed to think that it was right for the 
disciple not to be above his master, nor 
the servant above his lord. He wanted 
to have the same mind that was in Christ 
Jesus, to tread in the blessed steps of 
his most holy life, and as far as possible 
to live and act just as he lived and acted. 
The house that Basil lived in was one of 
the very plainest kind. He never allowed 
himself to have but one coat at a time, 
and that he wore without any ornament. 
He did not feel that there was any merit in 
doing this ; it was simply the feeling of 



Basil the Great. 205 

piety ruling in his heart which led him 
thus to live. As he called himself a dis- 
ciple or follower of Jesus, he wished to be 
as nearly like him in his manner of living 
as it was possible for him to be. He knew 
that Jesus had said, " If any man will be 
my disciple, let him deny himself, and take 
up his cross daily, and follow me." And 
this was what he aimed to do ; and so we 
see the great piety of Basil in the simplic- 
ity and self-denial of his daily life. 

3. We see his great piety again in his 
practical charity. His father was a rich 
man. Before his death he divided his 
property among his ten children. There 
was enough to make each of them well 
off. When Basil entered upon his re- 
ligious life, he set apart a large portion of 
his inheritance for the relief of the suffer- 
ing poor; and In the year 359, when a 
great famine was prevailing, he sold all 
the rest of his property and used the 
money which it brought him in the same 
way. And when he had given away all 
that belonged to himself, and the wants 
of the poor were unsupplied, he appealed 



2o6 Heroes of the Early Church. 

to the rich members of the church under 
his charge, and continued his efforts till he 
had first opened their hearts and then their 
purses, and all the money needed for the 
relief of the poor was freely furnished. 
Then he gathered together the famishing 
poor of both sexes and all ages, and dis- 
tributed freely to them the food which 
they needed. After this, by the help of 
his friends he had a large hospital built 
outside of the city. Into this he gathered 
the sick, the lame, the blind, the aged, who 
were unable to take care of themselves. 
There they were carefully nursed and all 
their wants were provided for. He cheer- 
fully assisted in this work himself, and was 
ever ready to perform the humblest offices 
for the poor sufferers found there. Surely 
this was a satisfactory proof of his great 
piety. 

And then we have another proof of 
piety in the faithful way in which he gave 
up the pursuits and pleasures of the world 
when he became a follower of Christ. He 
renounced the pomps and vanities of the 
world when he joined the Church. He 



Basil the Great, 207 

felt sure that the world and the Church 
cannot be joined together. They consti- 
tute two masters, and no man can serve 
them both. In taking Christ as his Mas- 
ter he determined that the world should 
no longer lead or control him. He be- 
lieved the truth of the apostle's words 
when he said, " If any man love the world, 
the love of the Father is not in him." 
When we make a profession of religion, 
we solemnly promise " to renounce the 
devil and all his works, the pomps and 
vanities of this wicked world, and that we 
will not follow nor be led by them." How 
Christians who go to balls and theatres, 
and engage freely in worldly amusements, 
can reconcile their conduct with the apos- 
tle's words above quoted I never can un- 
derstand. Basil had no sympathy with 
such Christians. One way in which he 
showed his great piety was by heartily re- 
nouncing all worldly pursuits and pleas- 
ures. 

4. He was great In his usefulness. After 
he had gone through with his studies in 
the different places of which we have 



2o8 Heroes of the Early Church. 

spoken, he returned to Caesarea, his native 
place, and was occupied for several years 
as a lawyer. In this he was eminently 
successful. But he soon grew tired of 
such employment. It did not suit his 
earnest Christian character. Then he re- 
tired to a mountainous part of the country 
and established a monastery. There he 
devoted himself to prayer and fasting and 
diligent study. He had a number of 
young men who joined him there, and 
whom he prepared for the work of the 
ministry. After several years spent in 
this way he returned to Caesarea. Then 
he was ordained to the ministry, and en- 
gaged earnestly in every kind of Christian 
work till the year 369, when Eusebius, the 
bishop of the church of Caesarea, died, and 
Basil was chosen to be his successor. And 
in occupying these different positions, we 
can see how useful he was in three ways. 

I. He was useful in what he said. 
Whether he was visiting the sick and poor 
from house to house, or preaching from 
the pulpit or by the wayside, he had but 
one subject about which to speak, and that 



Basil the Great. 209 

was, "Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 
And this orgeat theme he handled with 

o 

wonderful power. He was the most elo- 
quent preacher of the age in which he 
lived. The emperor Constans was so 
charmed with the eloquence of his preach- 
ing that he had a life-size statue of brass 
erected to his honor, in Rome, on the base 
of which was this inscription : 

Rome, the Queen of Cities, to Basil, 

THE King of Eloquence. 

A well-known writer of that day In 
speaking of him says : " In his own pe- 
culiar way he so adapted himself to popu- 
lar audiences that he never spoke any- 
thing but what the most ignorant among 
them could understand, and yet the most 
learned would admire." " The truth Is," 
continues the same writer, '' that if In any- 
thing he excelled all other speakers, it 
was in his eloquence." And when we 
think of him as going about teaching and 
preaching In such a way, who can tell how 
useful he was In what he said ? 

2. He was useful also in what he did, 

14 



2 1 o Heroes of the Early Church. 

What he taught with his eloquent voice he 
illustrated in his holy life. His preaching 
and his practicing were in beautiful har- 
mony. It might well have been said of 
him that the same mind was in him " that 
was also in Christ Jesus." Humility and 
patience and gentleness and love were the 
chief features that marked his character. 
He won the respect and confidence of all 
who knew him. And he was untiring in 
his efforts to promote the growth and 
prosperity of the Church. When he was 
chosen to the high ofifice which he held as 
head of the church at Caesarea and the 
surrounding country, he went everywhere, 
visiting the different churches, giving wise 
counsel and advice to the ministers, and 
seeking to correct whatever was wrong In 
the habits and practices of the people; and 
in this way, like his blessed Master, he 
"went about doing good." 

And then he stood bravely and nobly 
up in defence of the truth. When the 
emperor and the principal officers of the 
government had joined the Arian party, 
and tried to secure his influence in sup- 



Basil the Great. 211 

port of their erroneous views, he never 
would yield to their wishes in any way, but 
stood firm as a rock in support and defence 
of the great truth respecting the dlvlnlt}^ of 
Christ, and the atonement he had offered ■ 
for the sins of the world. And so by 
defendlno- the truths of the Bible and In 
helping to spread them abroad on the right 
hand and on the left, he was eminently use- 
ful in what he did. 

Finally, he was also 2cseficl in luhat he 
wrote. He wrote commentaries on dif- 
ferent portions of Scripture, sermons on 
various Christian duties, essays against the 
errors of the Arlans and other leadlnof 
heretics, and letters on many of the most 
Important subjects which engaged the at- 
tention of the members of the Church in 
those days ; and the writings of his pen 
seemed to have the same charm and power 
that marked the utterances of his voice. 
One of the leadinor ministers of the Church 
In the time of Basil speaks thus of his 
writings : " \Mien I read his expositions of 
Scripture, I seem to be conversing with my 
great Creator, and feel a greater reverence 



2 12 Heroes of the Ea7dy Church. 

and admiration for him than ever I did be- 
fore. When I read his work on the Holy 
Spirit, I feel myself in the presence of the 
true God, and, embracing the views there 
given, I feel better prepared to preach and 
declare the truth of God than ever I was 
before. And when I read his sermons for 
the poor and the ignorant, I find myself 
transported beyond the mere letter of the 
words, and carried up from one degree of 
light to another, and feel changed into an- 
other being." 

And when we think of this good man 
with reference to what he said and what he 
did and what he wrote, we do not wonder 
to find how very useful he was. May God 
give us all grace to follow him as he fol- 
lowed Christ ! 



CHAPTER XIV. 

AMBROSE OF MILAN. 
BORN 340 (?) ; AND DIED 397 (?). 

Ambrose comes next on our list of 
Christian heroes ; and he is most worthy 
of the place he occupies among them. In 
going on to consider the character of Am- 
brose, there are three things of which to 
speak. These are, the leadiiig incidents of 
his histo7y, the scene of his labors, and the 
lessons of truth illustrated in his life. 

/. The leading incidents of his history. — 
He was born in the town of Aries, in 
France, in the year 340 of our era, and 
died at Milan in the year 397, when he was 
in the fifty-seventh year of his age. His 
father was a distinguished man, and gov- 
ernor of one of the western provinces of 
the Roman empire. Aries was his resi- 
dence while exercising the office of pre- 
fect, or governor, of that part of the 

(213) 



2 1 4 Heroes of the Early Church. 

empire ; and It was while he resided here 
that Ambrose was born. He was nursed 
and brought up in the palace which be- 
longed to the governor. One day, as he 
lay asleep in his cradle in the open court, 
it is said that a swarm of bees settled on 
his face, gently creeping in and out of his 
open mouth without hurting him. His 
father, who was passing by, saw it. He 
told the nurse not to drive them away, for 
it was a sign that the child would become-a 
great man and an eloquent speaker. His 
father did not live long after this ; then his 
mother removed with her family to Rome, 
where Ambrose was brought up. His 
mother was an earnest Christian, and from 
her he received a thoroughly religious 
education. 

Ambrose made up his mind to be a law- 
yer, and was trained for that profession by 
passing through the best schools existing 
in Rome. He was very successful as a 
lawyer, and gained the confidence and 
respect of all who knew him. After prac- 
ticing law for several years, he was 
appointed by the representative of the 



Ambrose of Milan. 215 

emperor to the office of proconsul or gov- 
ernor of the northern part of Italy. In 
taking leave of him, his friend who had 
procured this honorable position for him 
said, " Now go thy way, and govern more 
like a bishop than a judge." 

After this Ambrose made Milan his resi- 
dence ; and here he was so faithful in the 
discharge of his duties, and so kind and 
pleasing in his manners, that he became 
very popular among the people of that city. 
After he had been there about five years, 
Auxentius, the bishop of the church in 
Milan, died. Soon after this a council of 
the church was called for the purpose of 
electing a successor to Auxentius. He 
had been an Arian, and his friends desired 
to elect some one of the same views ; but to 
this the orthodox portion of the council 
w^ould not consent. This led to a fierce 
and angiy controversy. The longer they 
argued the matter, the less prospect there 
was of their coming to any agreement. 
When Ambrose heard how thino-s were 
going in the council, he went there and 
asked permission to say a few words. 



2 1 6 Heroes of the Early Church. 

This was granted him. Then he made an 
earnest and eloquent speech, exhorting 
them to lay aside their contentions, and, in 
the peaceful spirit which their religion 
taught, to unite in making choice of a 
proper person to fill the important office 
that was vacant. His speech made a pro- 
found impression on the council. For a 
time there was perfect silence ; then some 
one rose and moved that Ambrose should 
be chosen bishop. The motion was taken 
up at once and carried unanimously. How 
strange this was ! Ambrose was not then 
a minister ; he had not even joined the 
church ; but he was an earnest Christian 
man, and was then preparing to be bap- 
tized. This is probably the only case in 
the history of the Church when one not a 
minister, but a layman and a lawyer, was 
chosen to be a bishop. 

Ambrose was unwilling to accept this 
high and holy office. He withdrew from 
the city, and got a friend who lived some 
miles away to let him stay in retirement in 
his dwelling. But the emperor issued a 
proclamation requiring any person who 



Ambrose of Milan, 217 

knew where he was to make it known, and 
threatening a severe penalty for detaining 
or hiding him. Then he returned to 
Milan, and was made bishop of the church 
there. These are the incidents in the his- 
tory of Ambrose of which we wished to 
speak. 

2. The scene of his labors. — The famous 
city of Milan was the place in which he 
exercised his ministry for twenty-two years, 
and faithfully discharged his duties as the 
head of the church there. Milan was the 
capital of Lombardy and the principal city 
of northern Italy. It stands within easy 
reach of the beautiful lakes of Maggiore 
and Como and the river Po. It has a 
population of nearly two hundred thou- 
sand inhabitants, and is justly regarded as 
one of the pleasantest cities of Europe. 
It has many famous palaces and public 
buildings ; but these are all cast in the 
shade by its magnificent cathedral. Next 
to St. Peter's, at Rome, this is the largest 
and most beautiful cathedral in Italy.' It 
stands in the centre of the city ; it is built of 
white marble, and has a very imposing 



2 1 8 Heroes of the Eaidy Church. 

appearance. I never shall forget the in- 
tense pleasure I felt while standing and 
gazing at it. The erection of this building 
was begun in 1386 — over five hundred 
years ago — and it is not finished yet. The 
workmen have little huts on the marble 
roof of the cathedral, and spend their days 
there. There are nearly five thousand life- 
size marble statues of distinguished men 
in the niches and corners of this vast 
building ; and yet its size is such that this 
great crowd can hardly be seen. And it was 
the city which has since been adorned with 
this splendid cathedral that was the field in 
which Ambrose labored. 

3. The lessons of usefulness with which 

we are furnished in the life of Ambrose. 

We may look at his usefulness from 
three points of view : i. We see it in what 
he did to increase interest in the public wor- 
ship of God. Ambrose had a great talent 
for music and an unusual ability for teach- 
ing others in it. He was a great blessing 
to rhe Church in the hymns which he wrote 
and in the music which he introduced into 
the public worship of God. Music had 



Ambrose of Milan. 2 1 9 

been used in the sanctuary before his time ; 
but there was no proper form or order in 
the use of it. Ambrose made a great 
improvement in this part of the service of 
the sanctuary. He arranged the hymns 
and chants, with the music with which they 
were sung, in such a way as added greatly 
to the interest and profit of the wor- 
shippers. A distinguished writer of that 
day, after attending services in the cathe- 
dral of Milan, speaks of its effect upon 
him in these words : " The voices flowtd 
into my ears, the truth sung thrilled my 
heart, and tears of joy filled my soul, as I 
listened to the sweet strains that sounded 
through the sanctuary." Ambrose lived 
in the fourth century of the Christian era ; 
we are living in the nineteenth century ; 
and here the interesting fact comes out 
that for fifteen hundred years this good 
man has been a blessing to the Church, in 
the efforts which he made to improve the 
musical part of the worship of the sanc- 
tuary. Some of the hymns which he 
wrote are still used in the Milan cathedral, 
with the music to which he set them. Here 



2 20 Heroes of the Early Church. 

is one of them as it has been translated 
into EngHsh : 

AN ANCIENT HYMN OF ST. AMBKOSE. 

Thou image of the Father bright ! 
Effulgent glory, Light of light, 
Radiance divine, that shines for aye, 
Thy dawn is that of endless day. 

True Sun ! illume our inner sight ; 
Pour down thy Spirit's living light ; 
Through all our senses, o'er our head, 
Unsetting Sun, thy brightness shed. 

Father of lights ! on thee we call ; 
Father of glory : all in all, 
Father of grace and power, we pray, 
Put all our sin and guilt away. 

Jesus ! be thou our bread from heaven ; 
Let faith athirst for thee be given ; 
Then let us drink with joy, until 
Our hearts and souls thy Spirit fill. 

Then glad the day we shall begin, 
Blush with the morning for our sin, 
Our faith grow like the midday bright, 
But know no twilight and no night. 

As dawn ascends to noon of day, 

Be thou our rising Sun for aye ; 

Thee let us in thy Father see. 

And find the Father all in thee. Amen. 

There is one chant which has been used 
for ages in the morning service of the 



Ambrose of Milan, 221 

Church of England and of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in this country, which is 
called the Ambrosian chant, or the chant of 
Ambrose. Its title is the '' Te Deum," 
from the first two words in the Latin ver- 
sion of it. Ambrose is said by some to 
have been the author of this chant, or the 
one who first brought it into use. By 
others it is affirmed that this chant was not 
used in the Church till several centuries 
after the death of Ambrose ; so the ques- 
tion remains an unsettled one. But the 
name and memory of Ambrose are con-- 
nected with it, and this makes it interesting. 
The first two verses of this chant read 
thus : " We praise thee, O God ; we 
acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the 
earth doth worship thee, the Father ever- 
lasting" ; and those who use this chant in 
the worship of the sanctuary must feel 
something inspiring in it when they think 
of the multitudes now in heaven who for 
century after century have repeated its 
solemn words through all the days of their 
pilgrimage. And here we see how useful 
Ambrose was in what he did to add to the 



222 Heroes of the Early Church. 

interest and profitableness of the public 
worship of God. 

I. We see the usefulness of Ambrose in 
his faithful defence of the truth. The con- 
troversy with the Arians was still kept up 
with great warmth. They had no church 
in Milan, and were very anxious to have 
one. Justina, the wife of the emperor, 
was an Arian. At the request of the 
leading men of that party she made appli- 
cation to Ambrose to allow them the use 
of one of the churches in the city. But 
Ambrose refused to do this. He said that 
the office entrusted to him as the head of 
the Church required him to be faithful in 
upholding and defending the truth 
which God had revealed in his holy word, 
and therefore he could not allow any of 
the churches under his care to be used by 
those who denied the divinity of his 
blessed Master and the reality of the 
atonement which he had made. Then 
Justina persuaded her husband, the 
emperor, to issue a decree commanding 
that one of the churches of the city should 
be given to the Arians for their use, and 



Ambrose of Milan. 223 

threatening with imprisonment and death 
any persons who should interfere with the 
carrying out of this decree. Then a 
company of soldiers was sent to take pos- 
session of the church which the Arians 
desired to have. Ambrose was in that 
church, standing near the pulpit, when the 
soldiers entered. The officer of the com- 
pany came up to him and said that he had 
been commanded by the emperor to take 
possession of the church for the use of the 
Arians. " Go back to the emperor," said 
Ambrose, " and tell him that If he wishes 
any money or property belonging tome, he 
is welcome to It. If he wishes to take my 
life, I will yield it to him cheerfully. But 
this church belongs to God. It has been 
committed to my care, and while I live I 
never can allow it to be used by those who 
deny the truth respecting the character 
and work of Christ as God has revealed 
it to us in his word." These words of 
Ambrose had such an effect upon the 
emperor that he would not pursue the 
matter any further ; and so the Arians failed 
to secure the church which they wished. 



2 24 Heroes of the Early Church. 

There are other incidents in the life of 
this good man which illustrate equally well 
his faithfulness in defending the truth. 
Let us all try to understand the saving 
truth of the gospel as Ambrose under- 
stood it, and let us stand up faithfully in 
its defence, as he did, and then, in our 
measure, we shall be useful as he was. 

3. Ambrose was useful in the practical 
ilhistrations of the truth which are fur- 
nished in his life. He was the model of a 
good Christian, a good minister and a good 
bishop. He was so much beloved and 
reverenced by all who knew him that we 
do not wonder to find him generally 
spoken of as Saint Ambrose. 

We have illustrated in his life the lesson 
of hiLmility. We see this in the w^ay in 
which he shrank from taking upon himself 
the office of the head of the church to 
which he had been unanimously chosen by 
the Council of Milan. He felt unwilling 
to assume the duties and responsibilities 
of so important a position. And it was 
the honest feeling of his heart — his real 
humility — which made him so unwilling to 



Ambrose of Milan. 225 

accept that office. Ambrose had learned 
the lesson which Jesus came down from 
heaven to teach us. When he had washed 
his disciples' feet, to illustrate this lesson, 
he said to them, '' If I then, your Lord and 
Master, have washed your feet ; ye ought 
also to wash one another's feet." Let us 
all try to learn humility. 

Again, we see the lesson of self-denial 
well illustrated in the life of Ambrose. 
When he was ordained to the ministry and 
made a bishop in the Church, he gave up 
all the property belonging to him, for the 
support of the Church and the relief of 
the poor. And what he thus did at the 
beginning of his ministerial life he kept 
on doing to the end of it. He lived In 
the plainest, simplest way, and used all the 
money he could save for the purpose of 
doing good. We cannot be true Chris- 
tians unless we learn and practice self- 
denial. Jesus made this point very clear 
when he said so solemnly, " If any 7nan 
will come after me, let him deny himself, 
and take up his cross daily, and follow 
me." Ambrose learned this lesson well, 



226 History of the Early Church. 

and his whole life was a practical illustra- 
tion of it. 

And then again, in the lesson of home 
piety which his life illustrated we see how 
useful Ambrose was. He loved the public 
service of the sanctuary. It was his de- 
light to join in the praises of God as they 
were sung there. But when he returned 
from the sanctuary he did not leave his 
religion behind him ; he carried it with 
him wherever he went, and it entered into 
everything he did. And this is just as it 
should be. That wise English minister, 
the Rev. Rowland Hill, used to say, ''I 
would not give a straw for any man's 
religion unless his cat and dog are the 
better for it." He meant to say by this 
that when our religion is true and genuine 
it will make us faithful in every duty, and 
kind and gentle to all about us, even to the 
dumb creatures of God. Jesus "went 
about doing good" ; and he expects all his 
people to follow his example in this 
respect. This was what Ambrose did. 
His practice conformed to his preaching. 
He loved to visit the homes of the poor, 



Ambrose of Milan. 227 

to comfort those who were in trouble, and 
to pray by the bedside of the sick and 
dying. And thus we see how useful he 
was in the practical illustrations of the 
truth which were found in his daily life. 
Let us all try to follow his example in 
these respects, and then we shall be use- 
ful wherever we go ; and it will be true of 
us that we shall be " treading in the 
blessed steps of our Saviour's most holy 
life." 



CHAPTER XV. 

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. 
[born a. d. 347 ; died a. d. 407.] 

Among all the great and good men of 
that part of the Church's history we are 
now considering, there was none pos- 
sessed of nobler qualities, or who exer- 
cised a greater influence for good, than 
the famous man whose life and character 
we are now to consider. He was born at 
Antioch in Syria in a. d. 347, and died in 
407, when in the sixtieth year of his age. 
His name was John Chrysostom ; but the 
different titles of Doctor, Bishop, Arch- 
bishop and Saint were given him by turns. 
The name of Chrysostom did not belong 
to his family ; it comes from a Greek 
word which signifies "golden-mouthed," 
and was applied to him in order to express 

(22S) 



yohn Chrysostom. 229 

the remarkable eloquence that belonged 
to him as a public speaker. 

Antioch, the place of Chrysostom's 
birth, was a very distinguished city. It 
was named after Antiochus Epiphanes — 
by whom it was founded — and was con- 
sidered the capital of Syria, being the 
residence of the Syrian kings. As we 
said in a former chapter. It was beautifully 
situated on the river Orontes, and in full 
view of the Lebanon range of mountains. 
It ranked high among the most famous 
cities of that day. Rome was the first, 
Alexandria the second and Antioch the 
third. It was a very populous city. In 
the days of Chrysostom it had a popula- 
tion of two hundred thousand inhabitants. 
He states that the church with which he 
was connected had under its care three 
thousand poor people, and provided for 
all their wants. 

The father of Chrysostom was a dis- 
tinguished officer in the army of his 
country ; but he died very soon after the 
birth of his son. This left the care and 
education of him entirely in the hands of 



230 History of the Eaidy Church. 

his mother. Her name was Arethusa. 
She was an earnest Christian woman. 
When her husband died she was left quite 
a young widow. She resolved, however, 
never to marry again, but to devote her 
life to the careful education of her dear 
child. By her example, her prayers and 
her daily teaching he was early brought to 
a knowledge of the truth and an experience 
of the grace and love of God. She secured 
for him the best teachers that were to be 
found in Antioch, which was then quite 
celebrated for its institutions of learning. 
There was then a very famous teacher of 
elocution in Antioch, whose name was 
Libanius ; and though he was still a wor- 
shipper of idols, the mother of Chrysostom 
resolved that her son should have the 
benefit of his instruction. Then Chrysos- 
tom entered on this course of study with 
great interest, and there can be no doubt 
that this had much to do in helping to 
develop in him that unusual power of elo- 
quence which in after life distinguished 
him as a public speaker. 

When his preparatory education was 



John Chrysostom. 231 

finished, he first engaged for some time in 
the practice of a lawyer. But he soon 
became dissatisfied with this, and wished 
to retire to a monastery and devote some 
years of his Hfe to the quiet and careful 
study of the Scriptures. His mother did 
not approve of this. She had a long and 
earnest conversation with him on the sub- 
ject, and entreated him to give up this 
plan and to remain with her during the 
rest of her life, as she very much desired his 
help and presence. He yielded cheer- 
fully to her request, and devoted himself 
lovingly to her comfort as long as she 
lived. 

But after his mother's death Chrysos- 
tom retired into private life, and lived in 
great simplicity and self-denial as a hermit. 
He devoted his time mainly to prayer and 
the diligent study of the Scriptures. After 
five or six years thus spent he returned 
to Antioch and was ordained to the minis- 
try, and devoted himself untiringly to the 
duties of that holy office. In a.d. 397 he 
was elected bishop of the church in Con- 
stantinople. He only occupied that posi- 



23 2 Heroes of the Early Church. 

tion for about ten years. Those were 
years of great trials and difficulties to him. 
His faithfulness in defending the true doc- 
trines of the gospel made him many 
enemies among the Arians and other false 
teachers. They made false charges 
against him, and had him twice banished 
from his church at Constantinople. Dur- 
ing the second of these banishments, while 
travelling to the distant place to which he 
had been sent, overcome by the fatigue of 
the journey, he was taken sick and died. 
These are the leading facts in the history 
of this good and great man. 

And now, having made this statement, 
we may glance very briefly at some of the 
important lessons that we find illustrated 
in the life of Chrysostom. 

I. We see his earnest piety illustrated in 
the zealous labors which he performed. As 
soon as he entered on the great work 
assigned him as the head of the church, he 
set himself vigorously to attend to it. He 
found that through the neglect of his pre- 
decessor in the high office of bishop, things 
had been allowed to get in a very bad way. 



yohn Chrysostom. 233 

Both the clergy and the lay members of 
the church had adopted practices and ways 
of living that were not at all in accordance 
with the teachings of Scripture. These 
Chrysostom set himself at once to correct, 
both by precept and by example. His own 
style of living was of the plainest and most 
self-denying character. 

Chrysostom inherited a large amount of 
property from his father. This he conse- 
crated to the Lord and employed in doing 
good among the poor. The church under 
his charge had a very large income. Out 
of this he took for himself only just 
enough to meet the expenses of the very 
simple way in which he lived. All the rest 
was employed in carrying on the good 
work in which the church was en^ao-ed. 

Not long after entering on the impor- 
tant duties of his high office, he found, to 
his surprise, that there was a province not 
far from Constantinople where idolatry 
was still prevailing, with all its attendant 
darkness and misery. He went to work 
at once and had what we should call a mis- 
sionary society formed for the purpose of 



234 Heroes of the Early Church. 

evangelizing- that portion of the country. 
He had money raised and missionaries 
sent out, and never ceased his efforts till 
idolatry was given up there and the gospel 
of Jesus, with all its blessed influences, 
was spread abroad throughout that district 
2. Then, in \i\^ patient suffering, as well 
as in his zealous labors, we see his earnest 
piety illustrated. The empress Eudoxia, 
the wife of the emperor then reigning, was 
an Arian. She was very much offended 
at Chrysostom for his faithfulness in de- 
fending the teachings of Scripture as held 
by the Trinitarians. She would not rest 
till the emperor was persuaded to issue a 
decree for the banishment of Chrysostom 
from his church and country. This occa- 
sioned great distress and sorrow among 
the friends of the persecuted man. But 
he himself made no complaint about it and 
offered no resistance to it. The patient 
spirit with which he submitted to all the 
suffering involved in his banishment is 
seen in what he said about it when the 
decree was first made known to him. 
These are the words which he used on 



yohn Chry SOS torn. 235 

that occasion: **Well, the empress wishes 
to banish me. Let her do it ; yet the earth 
is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. If 
she command that I be cut to pieces, let 
me be sawn asunder ; the prophet Isaiah 
was so served before me. Will she throw 
me into the sea ? I remember that was 
the fate of Jonah. Will she cast me into 
the fiery furnace? Then I shall have the 
three children for my fellow sufferers. If 
she cast me to the wild beasts, I know 
how Daniel went the same way to the 
lions. If she command that I be stoned, 
let it be so ; I shall then have Stephen, the 
proto-martyr, on my side. Will she have 
my head ? Let her take it ; John the Bap- 
tist lost his. Has she a mind for my 
estate ? Let her have it ; ' naked came I 
out of my mother's womb, and naked 
shall I return thither.' " And when death 
approached him, during his second banish- 
ment, after taking leave of his friends and 
engaging in his last act of worship he 
clasped his hands on his breast and said, 
*' Glory to God for all things that happen ! 
Amen." And so he passed away. Surely 



236 Heroes of the Early Church, 

such a patient spirit as this, in view of the 
great sufferings through which he was 
called to pass, was a good illustration of 
his earnest piety. 

3. We see his courage and faithfulness 
illustrated in the trying scenes of his busy 
life. It was his courage and faithfulness in 
opposing error and defending the truth 
which led the empress to procure his banish- 
ment, as we have already seen. 

But there was another occasion in which 
these noble points of his character were 
brought fully into play. This was in con- 
nection with a famous general in the army, 
whose name was Gainas. He and his sol- 
diers were all Arians. He asked the 
emperor to have one of the churches 
in Constantinople set apart for the 
Arians to worship in. The emperor 
made this request known to Chrysostom, 
and asked him to do what Gainas wanted. 
But he declined to do so. He said that he 
had been appointed the head of the church 
In order that he might watch over and pro- 
tect the interests of the truth as It was 
revealed in the Scriptures ; and that for 



John CJirysostom. 237 

him to set apart a church for the use of 
those who denied the divinity of the blessed 
Saviour would be failing in the solemn 
trust committed to him, and that he would 
rather lay down his life than neglect to dis- 
charge his duty in a matter of such great 
importance. This was really noble in him ; 
and the courage and faithfulness which he 
thus displayed set him before us as an ex- 
ample which it would be well for us all to 
imitate. 

And then, in connection with the history 
of this noble hero of the early Church, we 
are furnished with a striking illustration of 
the way in which God s providence woi^ks. 

In one place in the Bible, when God 
wishes to show what an interest he feels 
in the treatment which his people receive 
from those about them, he says, "he that 
toucheth you toucheth the apple of his 
eye" (Zech. 2 : 8). And if we allow our- 
selves to injure or ill treat any of God's 
servants, we may be sure that he will 
punish us for it. This was never more 
strikingly illustrated than in what happened 
to those who had been the enemies of 



238 History of the Early Church. 

Chrysostom. The chief of these was the 
empress Eudoxla. It was she who pro- 
cured his banishment. About three months 
after his death she was suddenly seized 
with some internal complaint. This occa- 
sioned her terrible suffering, and soon put 
an end to her life. And within two or 
three years after the death of Chrysostom, 
nearly all of those who had joined in the 
false charges brought against him and had 
helped to secure his banishment were over- 
taken by some strange calamity. One of 
them fell from his horse, broke his leg, and 
died from the effect of the fall. Another 
lost his speech, and was confined in his 
bed till he died. Some died of dropsy, 
and some of gout which tortured the 
fingers that had signed his condemnation. 
These providential visitations were so 
remarkable that the friends of Chrysostom 
could not help wondering over them, and 
quoting, as they did so, the passage of 
Scripture which says, " verily he is a God 
that judgeth in the earth." (Ps. 58 : 11). 

And when we think of the many utter- 
ances of God's truth by this "golden- 



yohi Chrysostom. 239 

mouthed" preacher, and of his writings 
which have come down to us in thirteen 
large volumes, we may form some idea of 
the great amount of good which he accom- 
plished. The Greek Church still uses a 
liturgy which is said to have been written 
by Chrysostom, though some affirm that it 
was not known till a century or more after 
his death. But in the service of the 
Church of England, and in the Episcopal 
Church in this country, there is a short 
prayer, beautiful and comprehensive, 
which is always used at the close of the 
morning and evening service, and which 
is called " A Prayer of St. Chrysostom." 
it reads thus: "Almighty God, who hast 
given us grace at this time to make our 
common supplications unto thee ; and dost 
promise that where two or three are gath- 
ered together in thy name thou will grant 
their requests ; fulfill now, O Lord, the 
desires and petitions of thy servants as 
may be most expedient for them ; grant- 
ing us in this world knowledge of thy 
truth, and in the world to come life ever- 
lasting. Amen.' 



240 Heroes of the Early Church. 

May God so give his grace to all the 
readers of this volume that they may have 
the same spirit which animated this noble 
hero of the early Church, and be able to 
tread in the steps of his most useful life. 




Constantitiople and the Bosphorous. 



p. 240. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

JEROME. 
[born a. d. 340 (?) ; died a. d. 430 (?).] 

The history of this learned man comes 
before us now as the next subject that 
claims our attention in considering " the 
Heroes of the early Church." He well 
deserves a place among these Heroes, for 
he was one of the most learned and able 
of the fathers of the Latin Church. In 
considering the life of this famous man, we 
shall briefly state the leading facts of his 
history, and then refer to three important 
practical matters we find illustrated therein. 

Jerome was born in the year 340 of the 
Christian era, at a town called Stridon, in 
Dalmatia. This town was entirely de- 
stroyed by the Goths towards the close of 
the fourth century, and no trace was left 
remaining by which it can now be identi- 
16 (241) 



242 Heroes of the Early Church. 

lied. His parents were earnest Christians, 
and his early education was attended to by 
his father. Then he went to Rome, and 
studied Greek and Latin and rhetoric and 
philosophy under the care of Donatus, one 
of the most famous teachers of that day. 
While at Rome he was admitted to the 
Church by baptism, and decided to devote 
himself to the service of his God and 
Saviour. In the year 373 he set out on a 
journey to the East in company with three 
of his most intimate friends, and settled 
for a time at Antioch in Syria. While 
residing there he and two of his friends 
were taken with a severe attack of fever. 
His friends died ; but he recovered, and 
became from that time more earnest and 
decided in his Christian life than ever he had 
been before. After this he retired to the 
desert of Chalcis, and spent four years in 
self-denying, penitential exercises and in 
the diligent study of the Hebrew language. 
Then he returned to active life, and took 
an earnest part in the religious contro- 
versies of the day. 

In the year 379 he was ordained to the 



Jerome . 243 

ministry ; but he never took charge of any 
particular church, as he preferred the Hfe 
of a travelling preacher and a diligent stu- 
dent. He was one of the most eloquent 
speakers of that day, and very famous for 
his great learning. 

The great mistake of his life was in sup- 
posing that religion was designed to 
separate us from our fellow men and lead 
us to spend our days in acts of fasting and 
self-denial, as monks and hermits were 
accustomed to do. 

After visiting Constantinople and other 
prominent places he returned to Rome, 
and became the secretary and warm friend 
of Damasus, the bishop of the Church of 
Rome, and continued with him till the 
bishop's death. 

Then Jerome undertook the instruction 
in Christianity of a large class of dis- 
tinguished ladies connected with the first 
families of Rome. Most of them were 
brought to a knowledge of the truth 
through his teaching, and became his warm 
and life-long friends. One of these, a 
wealthy widow lady named Paula, became 



244 Heroes of the Early Church. 

especially interested in him. He had been 
the means of her conversion, and she used 
her money freely in helping him to carry 
on the good work in which he was engaged. 
When, in the year 386, Jerome concluded 




On the left is the Church of the Nativity, founded 330 A.D. by the 
empress Helena. In the chapel beneath the church Jerome is said to 
have had his study for thirty years. 



to go to the Holy Land and spend the rest 
of his life there, Paula and her daughter 
and several of the other ladies who had 
been under his instruction in Rome made 
up their minds to go with him. He went 



yerome. 245 

to Palestine, and chose Bethlehem as the 
place of his abode. There his friend 
Paula founded four convents for nuns, and 
one monastery which she put under the 
charge of Jerome. He made his home 
there for the remainder of his days, and 
there he began, carried on and finished the 
important work of translating and issuing 
the Latin or, as it is called, the Vulgate 
version of the Bible. After this he remained 
there a happy, useful man till the year 420, 
when, at the age of eighty, he ceased from 
his labors and entered into '' the rest that 
remaineth for the people of God." 

Such are the leading facts in the history 
of Jerome. In these facts we see illustra- 
tions of three interestlno- truths. 

We see in the experience of this good 
man how God guides his people by his provi- 
dence. 

Jerome had a remarkable guidance in 
this way. In his early life, after he had 
joined the Church, he was very much given 
to the study of the writings of Cicero 
and other pagan authors. If he had con- 
tinued to be absorbed in those studies, it 



246 Heroes of the Early Church. 

would have been Injurious to his Christian 
character, and would have Interfered 
greatly with his usefulness. He had no 
earthly friend to give him wise counsel on 
this subject. But God, his heavenly 
friend, did It for him. And he did it in 
this way : One night Jerome had a dream. 
In this dream he thought that he died and 
entered the heavenly world. An angel 
met him as he entered, and led him to the 
throne of God to be judged. He thought 
God told him that the chief fault he had to 
find with him was that he had studied the 
writings of Cicero and other pagan authors 
more than he had studied the Bible, and 
that the mistake he had made In dolne this 
would Interfere greatly with his happiness 
forever. Then he awoke, and was greatly 
distressed at the thought of what he had 
been taucrht In that dream. He made a 
vow, at once, that he would turn over a 
new leaf, would give up the study of those 
pagan writers and devote himself to the 
diligent and faithful study of the Scriptures. 
For years after this he never looked at one 
of those works of which he had before 



yerome, 247 

been so fond. If Jerome had not been led 
to make this change In his studies, he would 
not have been prepared for the great 
work he had to do of making a new trans- 
lation of the Bible. This was the way in 
which God, by his providence, guided 
Jerome. And there are many ways in 
which the providence of God works for 
the guidance and protection and blessing 
of his people. Here is an illustration of 
this : 

On one occasion the good poet Cowper 
was unsettled in his mind. He felt so un- 
happy that he resolved to go to the river 
Thames and drown himself. He ordered 
a coachm.an, who was well acquainted with 
London, to drive him to Blackfrlars' 
Bridge. Strangely enough, the man drove 
all over London, but could not find the 
bridge. Then Cowper's mind changed, 
and he told the driver to take him home. 
When he reached his room, he felt sure 
that God's providence had been working 
to save his life. And then he sat down 
and wrote that beautiful hymn which begins 
thus : 



248 History of the Early Church. 

" God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform." 

Here is another incident which shows us 
by what little things God's providence 
sometimes works. A missionary in Jamaica 
was walking one dark night along a dan- 
gerous road which had a steep precipice 
on one side of it several hundred feet deep. 
He could not see, as he went on, where he 
was treading. A single mis-step might 
plunge him down the precipice, and so put 
an end to his work. But a little insect 
called the candle-fly came to his relief It 
flew before him very near the ground, and 
the feeble light which it shed along his 
path was enough to show him where it was 
safe for him to tread. The little creature 
never left him till the danger was all past. 
Here we see how true it is that God can 
make all things work together for good 
to those who love him. 

The second interesting truth we find 
illustrated in Jerome's history is how God 
provides help for his servants i7i the work 
they have to do for him. 

We see this in what Jerome's friend 



yerome. 249 

Paula did for him. She belonged to one 
of the most distinguished families in Rome, 
being descended from the famous Scipios 
and Gracchi. She was very wealthy and 
lived in one of the finest houses in that 
great city. But when she became a Chris- 
tian she gave up the world with its vanities 
and pleasures, and devoted herself and 
her large means to doing good in various 
ways. She became the life-long friend of 
Jerome, because he was the instrument 
which God made use of to brincr her to a 
knowledge of the Saviour. During the 
years in which Jerome lived in Rome, 
she insisted on his makinp- her house his 
home, which he did. And we have seen 
how she provided for him in Bethlehem. 
The closing years of his life, spent there, 
were years of great usefulness. But the 
good which he did then would never have 
been accomplished if it had not been for 
the help affDrded him by his friend Paula. 

God's promise to each of his servants is, 
" I will help thee" (Isa. 41 : 10). He helps 
his people himself, by the grace and 
strength which he gives them. And he 



250 Heroes of the Early Church, 

helps them In many other ways. The 
prophet Elijah had a singular experience 
of this. On one occasion he had to live 
for months all alone In a desert place, be- 
cause the king of Israel had determined to 
kill him If he could find him. There was 
water for Elijah to drink there, but there 
was no food for him to eat. And so God 
helped this prophet by causing the ravens 
to bring him bread and meat, every morn- 
ing and every evening, during all the many 
months he had to stay there. Now the 
God who Is able to work out his plans In 
such a way as this can never be at a loss 
to provide help for his servants In all their 
times of need. 

The only other point we would refer to, 
as illustrated in the life of Jerome, is the 
importance of finding out what our life-work 
is to be, and then of faithfully attending to 
it. 

This is what Jerome did. The great 
work which he was raised up .to accom- 
plish, and with which his name Is particu- 
larly associated, was the translating and 
issuing of the Latin version of the Bible, 



yei^ome. 251 

which IS called the Vulgate. The version 
of the Scriptures which had been used be- 
fore his time was called "the Septuagint." 
This is one of the oldest versions of the 
Bible in existence. It is said to have been 
prepared in the third century before Christ. 
The word septuagint means seventy. 
This name was given to it because seventy 
learned men are said to have been 
appointed by the authorities of the Jewish 
Church for the purpose of preparing this 
copy of the Old Testament Scriptures. 
It had for centuries been of great service 
to the Church in all countries where the 
Greek language was used. But in the time 
of Jerome the Latin tongue generally pre- 
vailed in western Europe. The Greek 
language was very little used in that part 
of the world. The people had only the 
Old Latin version, called the Itala, in which 
to read in their own language the won- 
derful works of God. A better version 
of the Bible, therefore, in the common 
language of the people, was very greatly 
needed. And when Jerome brought out 
his Vulgate, or Latin version of the Script- 



252 Heroes of the Early Church. 

ures, in the language then generally used, 
he was conferring the greatest amount of 
good on uncounted myriads of people, for 
many generations. That was his great life- 
work. He had attempted, from time to 
time, to prepare translations of different 
portions of God's word ; and the efforts 
which he thus made all helped to impress 
upon his mind the idea of the necessity 
which existed for a new translation of the 
whole Bible. And so, when he found 
himself comfortably settled in his quiet 
home at Bethlehem, he determined to take 
up this work. He went patiently and per- 
severingly on with it, year after year, till 
the work was done, and the Latin edition 
of the Bible, the Vulgate, was given to the 
Church and the world, as the great life- 
work of this good man. 

God generally has something special 
for his people to do, which may be called 
their life-work. We see illustrations of 
this both in the Bible and out of it. 
When we look in the Bible we see that 
Noah's life-work was to build the ark. 
Joseph's was to make preparation for the 



yerome. 253 

wants of the people in Egypt, the sur- 
rounding nations and his own kindred 
during those years of famine. The life- 
work of Moses was to deliver the nation 
of Israel from the bondage of Egypt and to 
give to them the divine law and lead them 
through the wilderness to Canaan. So we 
might range through the Bible and point 
out the special life-work of each of God's 
servants whose history is there given. 

And we find the same outside of the 
Bible. There was Martin Luther ; his 
life-work was to bring about the great 
Protestant Reformation. Robert Raikes' 
life-work was to put the Sunday-school 
machinery in operation. John Williams' 
work was to introduce the gospel among 
group after group of beautiful islands in 
the South Pacific ocean. Robert Moffat's 
was to do the same in southern Africa. 
And if we become the faithful servants of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and offer, each of 
us for himself or herself, the same prayer 
which the apostle Paul offered after his 
conversion, " Lord, what wilt thou have 
me to do ?" he who led Paul then and 



2 54 Heroes of the Early Church, 

Jerome afterwards to find out what their 
life-work was to be, and to do it, will 
answer our prayer in the same way. 




CHAPTER XVII. 

BORN 354 (?) ; AND DIED 430 (?). 

AUGUSTINE OF NUMIDIA. 

Augustine is the last of the noble men 
of the early Church in the East, that we 
propose to consider at present. But 
among all the famous heroes of whom we 
have spoken, there was no one who pos- 
sessed a nobler character or exercised a 
greater influence for good than Augustine. 

A popular writer of our own day says 
of him, " He was the most intellectual of 
all the fathers of the early Church. He 
was the great oracle of the Latin Church, 
and has exercised a leading control over 
the thoughts of the Christian world for a 
thousand years. He is referred to with 
equal authority by both Catholics and 
Protestants. His penetrating genius, 
his comprehensive views of truth and his 

(255) 



256 History of the Early Church. 

marvellous power as a teacher of it, place 
him among the immortal benefactors of 
mankind ; while his humanity, his charity 
and his piety have endeared him to the 
hearts of the Christian world." 

Augustine was born in the town of 
Tagaste, in Numidia, one of the northern 
provinces of Africa. The name of the 
town has since been changed, and it is now 
known as Bona ; a fortified town sur- 
rounded by strong walls forty feet high 
and about two miles in circumference. 
His family were in moderate circumstances. 
His father was an idolater, but his mother, 
well known by her name as Monica, was 
one of the most earnest and devoted 
Christians that ever adorned and blessed 
the Church. His father determined to 
secure for him the best education that 
could be had ; and after going through the 
first-class schools in his native town, he 
was sent to Carthage and then to Rome to 
finish his education. Aup-ustine did not 
follow the instructions of his pious mother, 
but, led astray by erroneous teachers, he 
fell into worldly, gay and sinful habits of 



Augicstine of Numidia. 257 

life, to the great grief of his affectionate 
and pious mother and to his own serious 
injury. He never got back from these 
evil ways till he was over thirty years of 
age. While professor of rhetoric at Milan, 
he became a Platonist, studied the Bible, 
and then he became a Christian and was 
baptized and ordained to the ministry, and 
was soon known as the most eloquent and 
successful preacher of that day. Not long 
after this he was chosen as the bishop of 
the church in Hippo, a town in the neigh- 
borhood of his native place. He occupied 
that important position for the rest of his life. 

These are the leading facts In the life of 
Augustine ; and when we come to look 
more closely into them, we find therein 
striking Illustrations of a practical and in- 
structive character. 

1. We see illustrated In Augustine's his- 
tory the i7nporta7tce of early piety. There Is 
no greater blessing that any of us can have 
in this life than to be brought to know and 
love the Saviour while we are young. It 
is true, as Watts says in one of his beaudful 
hymns, that 

17 



258 Heroes of the Early Church. 

" 'T will save us from a thousand snares 
To mind religion young ; 
Grace will preserve our following years, 
And make our virtues strong." 

We could not have a better illustration of 
this than we find in the case of Aucrus- 

o 

tine. If he had only followed his mother's 
teachings, and had sought to know and 
love the Saviour while he was a boy at 
home, the early years of his life, like 
those of his later experience, would have 
been happy and useful years. But In- 
stead of this, when he left home to go on 
with his education, he was like a ship that 
goes to sea without chart or rudder, and 
the captain of which does not know what 
port to sail for. In refusing to come to 
Jesus in his youth, Augustine was turning 
his back on the only true light ever given 
to us in reoard to God and the soul ^nd 
eternity. Then he went wandering on 
along dark and dangerous paths. He 
was led into sinful and sorrowful habits of 
life, which became a burden of sorrow to 
him through all the rest of his life, and 
almost broke his mother's heart. What 



Aug2isti7ie of Numidia. 259 

bitter tears she must have shed over her 
wayward, unhappy, sinful boy ! But she 
never ceased to pray for him, and never 
gave up the hope that he would be brought 
back from his erring ways at last. Augus- 
tine disobeyed the command " Remember 
now thy Creator in the days of thy youth ;" 
and the result was that he had to pass 
through years of sin and sorrow before he 
became a Christian. And so it will always 
be. The good Mr. Jay says, "Youth is 
the spring-time of life ; and this must de- 
termine what the glory of summer, the 
abundance of autumn and the provision 
for winter shall be. Youth is the seed- 
time ; and ' whatsoever a man soweth, that 
shall he also reap.' Everything of im- 
portance in after life is affected by early 
piety." 

2. We see strikingly illustrated in the 
history of Augustine the blessed influence 
of a pious mother. Earnest, intelligent 
piety was the most prominent feature in 
the character of Monica, the mother of 
Augustine. Like Hannah, the mother of 
Samuel, she consecrated her infant son to 



26o History of the Early Church. 

the Lord, and then devoted herself to his 
rehgious education. She was instrumental 
in the conversion of her husband, a year 
before his death ; and then her heart went 
out in earnest and unceasing longings for 
the salvation of her son. His youth, as 
we have said, was given up to dissipation. 
He had embraced the errors of a sect 
called Manicheans, which she feared would 
be the ruin of his soul. For thirty years 
she was engaged in unceasing prayers and 
efforts for his conversion. Her heart sank 
within her when it seemed at times as if 
her prayers were not to be answered. But 
at last, when her son was over thirty years 
of age, she heard that he had renounced 
his erroneous views and had given up his 
sinful ways and was earnestly seeking the 
Saviour. He was then at Milan, in Italy. 
Thither his mother hastened to him. He 
told her all about the long struggle 
through which he had passed, and the 
resolution he had now made to devote the 
rest of his life to the service of his God 
and Saviour. We can imagine something 
of the overflowing gladness of his mother's 



Augustine of Numidia. 261 

heart on finding that her Hfe-long prayers 
had been answered at last. She was 
present at his baptism and at his ordina- 
tion. Who can tell the joy that must 
have thrilled her bosom then ? Not long 
after this, when Augustine was about to 
return to Africa, his native land, his mother 
was taken sick, and after a short Illness 
passed away from earth, repeating, as she 
died, the words of good old Simeon when 
he held the infant Saviour in his arms and 
said, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant 
depart in peace ; for mine eyes have seen 
thy salvation." 

No woman has ever been dearer to the 
Christian Church than Monica, the saintly 
mother of Augustine ; and no mother ever 
conferred a greater blessing on the Church 
than she did in her untlrinof efforts and 
prayers for her son's conversion. We 
shall see this presently, when we come to 
speak of the wonderful amount of good 
which he did, not only In his own genera- 
tion but also in the generations that have 
followed him. Pious mothers have always 
been the greatest blessing to the Church, 



262 Helloes of the Early Church. 

The extent to which their influence has 
reached none can tell. John and Charles 
Wesley, the famous founders of the 
Methodist Church, owed all their useful- 
ness to the influence of their mother's 
piety. So it was with Philip Doddridge 
and John Newton ; and so it has been all 
through the history of the Church and the 
world. We cannot thank God too much 
for pious mothers. 

" The mother, in her office, holds the key 

Of the soul ; and she it is who stamps the coin 

Of character, and makes the being who would be a savage 

Eut for her gentle care, a Christian man." 

3. We see illustrated in the history of 
Augustine that we never can begin our real 
life-work until we become true Christians. 
Look at the course which Augustine pur- 
sued. He was going from one place to 
another, and engaging first in this employ- 
ment and then in that ; but he had no 
definite end in view till he found the 
Saviour and gave himself to him. Then 
he had a clear view of what his life-work 
was to be, and he gave himself up to it 
at once. This is generally the case. We 



Augustine of Numidia. 263 

see how plainly it was so in the experience 
of the apostle Paul. He had been sitting 
at the feet of Gamaliel to learn all about 
the Jewish laws. He was one of the 
strictest of the sect of the Pharisees, and 
a faithful attendant on all the outward 
duties of relip^ion. But this was not what 
he w^as sent into the world for. What 
this was he never found out till Jesus 
appeared to him on his way to Damascus. 
Then his eyes were opened and his heart 
was changed, and he offered the earnest 
prayer, *'Lord, what wilt thou have me 
to do ?" In answer to this prayer it was 
revealed unto him that he was chosen 
of God his Saviour " to bear his name 
before Gentiles and kings, and the children 
of Israel." The commission^ given by 
Christ to the twelve apostles was repeated 
to him. He was told to " ofo into all the 
world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature." That was his life-work ; but 
he never understood it till he bowed in 
penitence at the foot of the cross and gave 
himself to Jesus. Now what was true of 
the great apostle and of the saintly Augus- 



264 Heroes of the Early Church, 

tine IS equally true of us all. We never 
can find out what our life-work Is to be till 
we become true Christians. This is what 
Charles Wesley was realizing when he 
wrote these sweet lines : 

" Lord, in the strength of grace, 

With a glad heart and free, 
Myself, my residue of days, 
I consecrate to thee. 

" Thy ransomed servant, I 

Restore to thee thine own, 
And from this moment live and die 
To serve my God alone." 

Augustine never found out what his life- 
work was to be till he became a true 
Christian ; and it is just the same with us 
all. 

5. We see illustrated in the life of 
Augustine that when we begin in earnest 
to seek God, he is always ready in helping 
MS to find him. When Augustine left 
his mother's home and gave up the study 
of the Bible, he spent years In trying to 
find out the truth about God and the soul, 
among the different schools of philosophy. 
But his efforts were all unavailing. He 



Augustine of Numidia. 265 

found no comfort or satisfaction anywhere. 
There was no ground on which he could 
rest. Nothing could give peace to his 
troubled conscience, or inspire him with 
hope for the future. This state of things 
continued till he left Rome and went to 
Milan to occupy a position which had been 
offered him as lecturer on rhetoric. Here 
he became acquainted with the famous 
Ambrose, who was bishop of the church 
there. After hearing him preach in public, 
and having conversations with him in pri- 
vate, for the first time in his life the light 
of truth began to shine feebly on his path. 
But with a troubled conscience and a 
mind oppressed with doubts and fears, he 
was in great distress and knew not what 
to do. In this troubled state he retired 
one day to a lonely spot in his garden. 
There he threw himself on the ground and 
earnestly asked God to help him. Then 
he seemed to hear a voice saying unto 
him, " Take and read ; take and read." 
Having a copy of the New Testament 
with him, he opened it at one of the 
epistles of St. Paul and read these words: 



2 66 Heroes of the Early Church. 

'' Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil 
the lusts thereof (Romans 13 : 14). Then 
he bowed in penitence and faith before 
Christ, asking that his sins might be par- 
doned, his heart renewed, and that grace 
might be given him to be God's faithful 
servant. At once the light shone in upon 
his darkness ; his burden was removed, 
and peace and joy in believing filled his 
soul. And here we see how ready God 
was to help Augustine as soon as he began 
in earnest to seek him. And what God 
did for him, in this respect, he is ready to 
do for all who are really trying to find 
him. His precious promise is, " Ye shall 
seek me, and find me, when ye shall search 
for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29 : 13). 
It is a blessed thing to find a truth like 
this so strikingly illustrated in the life of 
this noble hero of the early Church. 

5. The only other point to which I 
would refer as illustrated in the history of 
Augustine is that when we engage heartily 
m God' s service, there is no telling how much 
good we may be able to do. The turning- 



Augustine of Numidia. 267 

point In the life of Augustine began when 
he became a Christian and was baptized 
and joined the Church, in the thirty-fourth 
year of his age. Soon after this he went 
back to Africa, his native country. There, 
after he had been some time actively and 
successfully engaged in the duties of the 
ministry, he was chosen bishop of the 
church in Hippo, a town not far from the 
place of his birth. This he held for thirty- 
five years, and with it his life of special 
usefulness began. 

A popular writer of our own day speaks 
of Augustine thus : — *' As a bishop he won 
universal admiration. Councils could do 
nothing without his presence. Emperors 
condescended to sue for his advice. He 
wrote letters to all parts of Christendom. 
He was alike saint, oracle, prelate and 
preacher. He labored day and night, liv- 
ing simply but without monkish austerity. 
At table, reading and literary conferences 
were preferred to secular conversation. 
His person was accessible. He interested 
himself in everybody's troubles, and visited 
the forlorn and miserable. He was inde- 



268 Heroes of the Early Church, 

fatigable in reclaiming those who had gone 
astray. He won every heart by his kind- 
ness and charity, and captivated every 
mind by his eloquence ; so that Hippo, a 
little African town, was no longer ' least 
among the cities of Judah,' for her bishop 
was consulted from the very ends of the 
earth, and his influence went forth through 
the world to heal divisions and establish 
the faith of the waverincr. He was indeed 
a father of the universal Church." 

And then Augustine did great good by 
the noble way in which he opposed the 
prevailing errors of that age. The Mani- 
cheans, the Donatists and the Palagians 
were the principal sects then teaching 
erroneous doctrines. We have not time 
to enter into the details of their teaching. 
But Augustine pointed out their errors, 
and set forth the real truth of the Script- 
ures on the points at issue, in the clearest, 
strongest and most successful way. And 
in the work thus accomplished he was an 
untold blessinor to the Church in those 

o 

days. 

And then by his writings he has been a 



Augustine of Numidia. 269 

blessing to the Church through all the 
many centuries that have passed away 
from his own time to the present. His 
letters, his work on the Psalms, on the 
Trinity, his " Confessions," and his '' City 
of God," have been a fountain of unfailing 
blessing to the Church. 

Moreover, he lived the doctrines which 
he preached and of which he wrote. He 
completely triumphed over the temptations 
which once overcome him. No one could 
ever remember an idle word from his lips 
after his conversion. He died in the year 
430, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, 
full of visions of the unspeakable beauty 
of that blessed state to which for more 
than forty years his soul had been con- 
stantly soaring. 

" Thus ceased to flow," said a writer of 
his own age, " that river of eloquence 
which had watered the thirsty fields of the 
Church ; thus passed away the glory of 
preachers, the master of doctors and the 
light of scholars ; thus fell the courageous 
combatant, who with the sword of truth 
had given heresy a mortal blow ; thus set 



270 History of the Eajdy Church, 

this glorious sun of Christian doctrine, 
leaving- the world in darkness and in 
tears." 




CHAPTER XVIII. 

PATRICK, THE APOSTLE OF IRELAND. 
BORN 872 or 373 (?) ; and died 493 (?). 

There are two other heroes of the early 
Church which may well be considered in 
our list, for they were used to give a 
knowledge of the gospel of Jesus to a 
portion of the people in the British Islands, 
by whom our own country was afterward 
settled. 

In the fifth century of the Christian era 
there flourished one of the most interest- 
ing characters in the history of the Church 
in Western Europe. He was called Saint 
Patrick, " the apostle of Ireland." A great 
many fancies and fables have been con- 
nected with his name. These we shall 
avoid as far as possible, and after glancing 
at the well-known facts of his history, shall 
speak very briefly of several things con- 

(271) 



272 Heroes of the Early Church. 

nected with him, which had much to do 
with the great usefulness that marked his 
Hfe. 

This faithful servant of God is said to 
have been born on the 5th of April, in the 
year ^']^. He belonged to a very good 
family. His father and grandfather were 
both ministers of the gospel. The place 
of his birth is supposed to have been 
Kirkpatrick, near Dunbarton, in Scotland. 
A band of robbers prowling about that 
part of the country took him prisoner and 
carried him over to Ireland when he was 
about fifteen years of age. There they 
sold him to an Irish farmer, who made him 
keeper of his flocks by day and by night. 
During those years of his early sojourn in 
Ireland he learned well the language of 
the country, and became greatly interested 
in its welfare ; and thus the way was pre- 
pared for the great work which he was 
afterwards the instrument in accomplishing 
for the good of Ireland. 

After six years of hard life in the service 
of the man to whom he had been sold, he 
managed to escape and return to his own 



Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. 273 

land, and to his father's house. Here, 
some two years after this, he formed the 
design of devoting his life to the work of 
converting Ireland to the religion of the 
gospel. Then we are told by some that 
he went over to the continent, and pursued 
his studies under the care of his mother's 
uncle, St. Martin, the bishop of Tours, and 
that by him he was ordained to the minis- 
try. By others it is said that he went to 
Rome, and was commissioned by Pope 
Celestine to the work of evangelizing Ire- 
land. It is hard to get at the exact truth 
in regfard to some of these thinors ; but we 
know certainly that he did go to Ireland 
and began his missionary work there about 

432 A.D. 

He preached and labored there with such 
remarkable success that before his death 
the whole country was brought under the 
influence of the gospel. He baptized the 
kings or chiefs of Dublin and Munster and 
the seven sons of the chief of Connaught. 
His custom was always to strive to bring 
the chiefs of a particular district to a 
knowledge of the truth first, and then with 

18 



2 74 Heroes of the Early Church, 

their help to try to reach the people. The 
story about his driving the frogs and 
venomous reptiles from the island by the 
waving of his staff or crozier must be put 
down among the many fables that have 
been written concernincr him. About his 
age at the time of his death, different 
accounts have been given. Some of these 
represent him as dying when he was be- 
tween seventy and eighty, while others 
state that he was over a hundred years old 
when he died. But all ao^ree in stating 
that whatever the year was, the day of his 
death was the 17th of March. When this 
is spoken of as *' St. Patrick's day," it 
means not the day of his birth, but the day 
of his death. Such are the chief facts in 
the life of this famous man. 

And now, let us look at some things 
connected with '* the apostle of Ireland'* 
which had much to do with making him so 
successful in the great work of his life. 

I. The first of these was Jiis early piety. 

He began to serve God when he was 
quite young. He had learned to know 
and love the Saviour before he was stolen 



Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, 275 

away from his father's home and sold as a 
servant or captive, in his fifteenth year ; 
and when that great trouble came upon 
him, he was ready for it. He knew what 
to do, and where to turn for help and com- 
fort. If a vessel is driven suddenly out to 
sea, without a chart or compass on board, 
then those who are in that vessel must 
have a trying time. They will not know 
which way to go, or how to steer their 
vessel. But how different their condition 
will be if they only have a chart and com- 
pass with them ! The chart will show 
them which way to go, and the compass 
will help them to steer their vessel in that 
way. But when we learn to know and 
love Jesus, he will be our chart and com- 
pass in the voyage of life before us. His 
presence and blessing are the things most 
essential to our success. It is true, as the 
hymn says, that 

" 'T will save us from a thousand snares, 

To mind religion young ; 
Grace will ensure our following years, 

And make our virtues strong," 

Patrick, "the apostle ot Ireland," had 



276 Heroes of the Early Church. 

the great blessing of early piety, and this 
had much to do with the remarkable suc- 
cess which attended his work. 

2. The second thing which led to this 
success was the spirit of prayer which he 
exercised. 

When he was a youthful captive in Ire- 
land, he speaks of himself thus : '* I was 
employed every day in tending sheep ; I 
used to stay in the woods and on the 
mountain. I prayed frequently. The love 
and fear of God, and faith in him, increased 
so much, and the spirit of prayer grew so 
strong in me, that I often prayed more 
than twenty times in the day, and almost 
as often in the night. I frequently rose to 
prayer in the woods before daylight, in 
rain and frost and snow. I feared no evil, 
nor was there any sloth in me. I felt that 
God was with me." 

We have another illustration of how he 
was helped by prayer, in the account he 
gives of the way in which he escaped from 
his captivity in Ireland. " I made up my 
mind," he says, ''to leave the man with 
whom I had lived for six years. I went 



Patrick, the Apostle of l7^eland. 277 

in the power of the Lord to look for the 
vessel that would take me away. I found 
the vessel and asked for a passage The 
captain was angry and said I could not go. 
As I turned away my heart was lifted up 
in prayer to God. I had not gone far 
when one of the sailors came after me. 
He called to me and said, ' Come back, for 
we want you to go with us.' I went, and 
was kindly received, and so the way was 
opened for me to return to my home in 
Scotland." 

And when we think of this good man as 
going on with his work in Ireland, in the 
exercise of such a spirit of prayer as this, 
we need not wonder at his success. Eliot, 
the missionary to the Indians, said, " Prayer 
and pains can do anything." It Is true, as 
one has said, " Prayer has divided seas, 
rolled up flowing rivers, made flinty rocks 
gush into fountains, quenched flames of 
fires, muzzled the mouths of lions, stopped 
the moon and the sun in their courses, 
burst open iron gates and brought legions 
of angels down from heaven. Prayer 
brought one man from the bottom of the 



278 Heroes of the Early Church, 

sea, and carried another in a chariot of 
fire to heaven. What Is there that prayer 
cannot do ?" It is true, as the hymn says, 
that 



" Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw, 
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, 
Gives exercise to faith and love. 
Brings every blessing from above." 



And when we think of Patrick as going on 
with his work under the influence of such 
a spirit of prayer as he exercised, we need 
not wonder at the success which crowned 
his labors. 

3. The only other thing of which we have 
now room to speak, as leading to the suc- 
cess which attended his labors, was, the 
use he made of the word of God. 

In the few writings of his that remain, 
we find nothing that agrees with the teach- 
ing of the Romish Church. There is no 
mention made of the Pope of Rome. Not 
a word is said about the doctrine of pur- 
gatory, or confession to the priests, as 
necessary to salvation. Nothing about 
what Romanists call transubstantiation, or 



Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. 279 

the belief that In the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper the bread and wine are 
changed into the actual body and blood of 
Christ, and nothing about the worship of 
the Virgin Mary can be found in his books. 
Instead of making any reference to these 
Romish errors, his writings abound in the 
simplest statements of gospel truth. The 
Scriptures are treated by him with the pro- 
foundest reverence. He speaks of them 
as intended by God for the free use of all 
his people. In support of his teachings he 
never appealed to any other authority than 
that of the written word. No matter 
what popes or councils or the fathers said, 
the simple declaration of Scripture, '' Thus 
saith the Lord,'' was sufficient for him. 
This settled everything. In the few chap- 
ters of his confession alone, there are no 
less than thirty-five quotations from the 
Holy Scriptures. And it was because he 
made such a free use of "the sword of 
the Spirit" that he was so successful in his 
contest with the erroneous opinions and 
practices of heathenism. 

To illustrate this part of our subject, 



2 So History of the Early Church, 

and show how clear the views of Patrick 
were of " the truth as it is in Jesus," I 
will quote here a few lines from a hymn 
said to have been written by him. 

"Christ with ino, Christ before me, 
Olirist behind nie, Christ witliin me, 
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 
Christ at my right, Christ at my left. 
Christ in the iieart of every man 

Wlio thinks of me ; 
Christ in the month of every man 

Who speaks to me ; 
Christ in every eye that sees me, 
Christ in every ear that hears me." 

And a man who was so full of Christ, 
and had so much to say of him, could not 
fail of beinor successful in brinoino- others 
to him. 

And when we think of tJie early piety 
of this faithful servant of God, of the 
spirit of prayer which he exercised, and 
of the use he made of the uord of God, 
we see three of the elements of success 
which attended his missionary labors in 
Ireland. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

COLUMBA, THE APOSTLE OF SCOTLAND. 
[born a. d. 521 (?) ; and died 597 (?).] 

In the sixth century after Christ, God 
raised up another famous Christian hero 
in the British Islands. The most interest- 
ing and prominent character belonging to 
this period of the Church's history is 
Columba, or, as he is generally called, 
Saint Columba. This title was given him, 
not after his death, as is often done in the 
Romish church, but during his life-time, for 
the eminent piety which marked his char- 
acter. It is remarkable that Patrick, whose 
character we considered in the last chap- 
ter, was born in Scotland, yet devoted his 
life to the work of Christianizing Ireland ; 
while Columba was born in Ireland, but 
spent his days in the work of Christianiz- 
ing Scotland. We may consider very 

(281) 



282 Columba, the Apostle of Scotland. 

briefly the leading facts in the life of this 
good man, and then notice some of the 
lessons we may gather from it. 

Columba was born in Donegal in Ireland 
in the year 521. He was connected with 
a princely or royal family in that part of 
Ireland. His mother was connected with 
a princely family in Argyleshire, Scotland, 
and it was no doubt the thought of his 
mother's connection with that country 
which gave rise to his interest in it, and led 
him to devote his life to its welfare. When 
he was quite young Columba was put 
under the care of a faithful minister of the 
gospel to receive his education. Then he 
was led to know and love the Saviour, and 
to give his heart and life to him. He 
entered the ministry as soon as he was of 
age, and the first years of his ministerial 
life were occupied in the work of preach- 
ing the gospel in Ireland. He went 
through the districts of Leinster, Con- 
naught, Meath and other parts, making 
known the truth as it is in Jesus, and 
calling on the people to repent and believe 
in Christ. He was very successful in this 



Cohimba^ the Apostle of Scotland. 283 

work. Like Patrick, his custom was when 
he formed a church in any neighborhood 
to have a school estabHshed in connection 
with it. And before he went to Scotland, 
he had been the means of organizing one 
hundred churches and schools in different 
parts of Ireland, which were so many foun- 
tains of blessing to the neighborhoods in 
which they were established. 

In the year 563, when he was more than 
forty years of age, Columba with a com- 
pany of twelve friends, chosen to help him 
in his work, left Ireland and went over to 
Scotland, to begin his great life-work 
there. He made his headquarters on the 
celebrated island of lona. This belongs 
to the well-known group of the Hebrides, 
off the western shore of Scotland. lona 
is a little island, only about three miles 
long and a mile and a half broad. It was 
given to Columba by the king who reigned 
over the Picts in the northern part of Scot- 
land. It has now a population of about 
five hundred people„ Here Columba 
found a church and built what was called 
a monastery. This was a sort of school 



284 History of the Early Church, 

or college, which became one of the most 
famous seats of learning In all that part of 
Europe. It was kept up for several hun- 
dred years after his death with great 
success, and was the means of doing a 
wonderful amount of good. The earnest 
piety and the useful learning which were 
spread by these institutions, and the many 
ruins of churches and schools once exist- 
ing here, have made this island of lona a 
sort of classic ground, a place of great 
Interest to travellers, who love to visit It 
From lona as his headquarters Columba 
spent the rest of his busy life in making 
missionary journeys through the surround- 
ing Islands and other parts of Scotland. 
He preached the gospel and was the 
means of establishing churches and open- 
ing schools wherever he went. He kept 
up these labors perseveringly till his death, 
which took place in the seventy-eighth 
year of his age. 

Such were the leading facts In the life 
of this good man. We may set him before 
us as an example worthy of our imitation 
in three Important respects. 



Columba, the Apostle of Scotland. 285 

I. We find in Columba an example of 
untiring industry. 

This marked his whole course. He be- 
gan, continued and ended his life in the 
exercise of this spirit. In all his plans of 
usefulness, and in his carrying on of his 
missionary labors, this industry was ever 
to be seen. Whatever he began to do he 
persevered in doing till it was accom- 
plished. When at home, between his 
missionary journeys, he employed himself 
diligently in study. The art of printing 
was not then known, and the pen had to 
take the place of the press in multiplying 
such books as were needed. Columba 
used his pen so Industriously that in the 
course of his busy life he had with his own 
hand written out no less than three hun- 
dred volumes. And so earnest was he In 
trying to further the interests of religion 
and learning in this way that he continued 
to employ himself thus to the end of his 
life. Only a few days before his death he 
was busily engaged In writing out a copy 
of the Psalms of David, to be used in one 
of his schools. And this love of knowl- 



286 Heroes of the Early Church. 

edge he tried to get others about him to 
cherish also. His seminary at lona was a 
fountain from which streams of learninor 
and religion flowed forth on every hand. 
Students came to lona from all parts of 
Scotland and England, and even from 
the continent of Europe ; and when 
their studies were finished, they went 
forth to spread abroad on the right hand 
and on the left, the blessings of knowl- 
edge and religion which they had received 
there. 

And Columba taught to all about him 
the same industry which he practiced him- 
self Hence with this untiring industry 
in himself and in those about him, we need 
not wonder that he was successful in all 
that he did. On the walls of the cele- 
brated temple of Delphos in Greece there 
used to be inscribed this motto : " Nothing 
is impossible to industry!' 

2. We have in Columba an example of 
UNFAILING KINDNESS. This idea is wrapped 
up in his very name. Columba is the 
Latin name for a dove ; and the dove has 
always been considered as the type or 



Columba, the Apostle of Scotland. 287 

emblem of kindness or orentleness. Hence 
we read that when our Saviour was bap- 
tized in the river Jordan, the heavens were 
opened above him, and the Holy Ghost 
descended in a bodily shape like a dove, 
and abode upon him. " The gentleness 
of Christ" was a chief element of his char- 
acter. And it will be so with all who are 
his true servants. It was so with Col- 
umba. The name first given him as a 
child had only two syllables in it. He v/as 
called Colum. But as he was growing up 
he showed so much kindness and gentle- 
ness that his parents concluded to add an- 
other syllable to his name and called him 
Columba — the dove. And he well deserved 
this name. The spirit that dwelt In him 
was a gentle and loving spirit. This gave 
a sweet expression to his countenance, and 
made his voice and manner always pleas- 
ing. His disciples and servants he always 
spoke of as his "children" or "brethren." 
Everything connected with them became 
an object of Interest to him. If he knew 
that they were In trouble or danger, he 
would engage In earnest prayer for them. 



288 Heroes of the Early Church. 

When they were laboring in the field, he 
would go out and cheer and encourage 
them in their work. He always had a kind 
word for every one. He was often called 
upon to settle disputes which were likely 
to end in trouble and bloodshed. And he 
was always successful in these efforts. A 
short time before his death a little incident 
occurred which strikingly illustrates the 
effect of his kindness. When going home 
from church one day he was so feeble that 
he was obliged to stop and rest by the 
way. As he was sitting under the shadow 
of a tree an old horse that had long been 
accustomed to carry milk to the monas- 
tery, and had experienced Columba's 
kindness, came up to him and laid his head 
upon his breast as if he wanted to say, 
** Good-by, old master ; I'm sorry you are 
going to leave us." His servant was 
going to drive the animal away ; but 
Columba said, '' No ; let him alone. He 
only wants to show that he is sorry to 
lose me." And then he patted him 
gently on the head and said, '' Good-by." 
How true it is, as the good Henry Martyn^ 



Cohimba, the Apostle of Scotland. 289 

said, that the power of gentleness Is 
irresistible !" 



" Speak gently — it is better far 
To rule by love than fear ; 
Speak gently — let no harsh words mar 
The good we might do here." 



3. Columba comes before us also as an 
example of earnest piety. 

We see this in the early part of his 
Christian life. We have spoken of him 
as belonging to the royal family of the 
tribe among whom he was born. As the 
oldest son in that family he was the heir 
of the crown. He had become a Chris- 
tian before his father died ; but in the state 
of feeling then existing among his people 
they were unwilling to have a Christian 
for their king. He found that either 
Christ or the crown must be given up. 
And like the apostle Paul he " conferred 
not with flesh and blood." He clung to 
Christ and let the crown go. Here he 
showed his earnest piety. This was the 
foundation on which the character of this 
good man was built ; and there is no better 

19 



290 Heroes of the Early Church, 

foundation on which a good character can 
be built. 

The piety of Columba was not confined 
to Sabbath or the sanctuary. He sought 
to sanctify everything by the word of God 
and prayer. If he mounted his cart for a 
journey, he first asked God's blessing on 
his journey. When he entered the barn 
and saw the heaps of grain there, he 
lifted up his heart to God and thanked 
him for it. He began no work and 
engaged in no business without asking 
God's blessing upon it. If he adminis- 
tered medicine to the sick, it was always 
accompanied with a prayer to God who 
healeth. His preaching was always pre- 
ceded and followed by prayer. And 
when we think of his untiring industry, 
his unfailing kindness and his earnest 
piety, we need not wonder at the success 
which crowned his labors. 



INDEX. 



Abraham, 59. 

"Against the Heretics," by Iren- 

se'us, 86. 
Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, 

168, 174. 
Alexandria, 89, 97, 120, 165. 
Ambrose, 213-227, 265. 
Anecdotes, 99, 101, 116, 118, 122,124, 

130, 148, 168, 182, 187, 193, 198, 209, 

214, 223, 235, 247, 248, 276, 288. 
Antioch, 27, 228, 242. 
Arian heresy, 156, 171, 210, 215, 222, 

232. 
Aristotle, 62. 
Aries, 213. 
Arius, 156, 171. 
Athanasian creed, 172. 
Athauasius the Great, 165-189. 
Athens, 89, 96, 191, 202. 
Augustine of Nuraidia, 255-270. 
Augustus, 106. 
Authentic History, 16. 
Auxentius, 215. 
Barnabas, 13. 
Basil, 167, 200-212. 
Believers, how strengthened, 29. 
Bethlehem, 244. 
Bible, copied and circulated, 164, 

245, 250, 285. 
"Bishop," how used, 16. 
Blessings, how we may be, 70. 
Callisto, 45. 
Carthage, 105, 136. 
Cave'sHistory of Apostolic Fathers, 

167. 
Caecelius, 140. 
Csesarea, 150, 200. 
Cecrops, 89. 

Charity, example of, 141, 205. 
Christians, first so called, 28. 
Chrysostom, John, 228-240. 
Clement of Alexandria, 89-104 l'>2 
Clement of Rome, 11-22. ' 

Columba, 281-290. 
Consecration, 100, 206, 210, 233, 244, 

Consistency, example of, 112. 
Constans, 209. 

Constantine, 130, 153, 163, 191. 
Constantinople, 163, 202, 231, 240. 
Conversions, 13, 19, 20, 45, 68, 75, 77, 
97, 108, 112, 130, 139, 152, 242, 243. 



Corinth, church at, 17. 

Council of Milan, 224. 
of Nice, 156, 171, 172. 

Courage, example ot, 18, 132, 145, 238. 

Cow per, 247. 

Cyprian, 136-148. 

Damasus, 243. 

Decision, example of, 107, 140. 

Defence, or apology by Justin Mar- 
tyr, 72. 

Devotion, example of filial, 123. 

Diligence, untiring, lesion of, 35, 
132, 135. 

Dream of Jerome, 246. 

Easter, 83. 

Edict of Toleration by Constantino, 

155. 
Eleutherus, 82. 
Eloquence, 209, 216. 
Endurance, lesson of patient, 32. 
Epistle by Clement, 17. 
Ignatius, 37. 
Polycarp, 50. 
Eudoxia, 234. 
Eusebius, 149, 164, 208. 
Example, power of, 101. 
" Exhortations to the Gentiles," 103. 
Faith, triumph of, 37. 
False teaching, how met, 28, 50 82 
87,103,117,131,279. ' ' 

Fenelon, 99. 

Folly of resisting God, 196. 
Galerius, 153. 
Gnostics, 85. 

Good, example of doing, 17, 161. 
Good foundation for character, 194. 
Grace, power of 53. 
Graded Helps for study of Scrip- 
tures, by Origen, 134. 
Great questions, 12. 
Gustavus III., 124. 
Hill, Rev. Rowland, 226. 
History of the Church,by Eusebius, 

162. 
Hospital built by Basil, 206. 
Humility, example of, 16, 224. 
Hymn by Ambrose, 220. 
Ignatius, 23-39. 
Industry, example of, 285. 
Infallibility of pope, 83. 
Ion a, 283. 
Ireland, 273. 

291 



292 



Index. 



Irenseas, 74-88. 

" Irenseus against Heresies," 87. 

Jerome, 241-254. 

Jerusalem, attempt to rebuild, 196. 

John, 26, 43, 45, 113. 

Julian the Apostate, 183, 190-199. 

Justiua, 222. 

Justin Martyr, 59-73. 

Kindness, exau)ple of, 286. 

Lactantius, 155. 

Layman, a, chosen bishop, 216. 

Learning, great in, 2U1. 

Leonidas, 120. 

Letter of Justin Martyr, 69. 

Libanius, 230. 

Lyons, 74. 

Marcus Antonius, 44, 53, 72. 

Aurelius, 72. 
Martin of Tours, 273. 
Martyrdom, 19, 21, 38, 44, 55, 73, 80, 

121, 147. 
Maxentius, 154. 
Maximianus, 159. 
Memoiizing Scripture, 121. 

Milan, 213, 217, 257. 
Missionary work, 75, 76, 116, 234, 
273, 282. 

Monica, 256, 260. 

Montanists, 82, 114. 

Mother's influence, 192, 193, 201,214, 
230, 256, 259. 

Music introduced by Ambrose, 48. 

Nablus or Shechem, 59. 

Nice, council of, 156, 171, 172. 

"Nicene Creed, The," 158, 174, 

Obelisks of Alexandria, 94. 

Omar, caliph, 94. 

Origen, 11, 120-135. 

Pamphilus, 159. 

Pant?enus, 96, 102. 

Parthenon, the, 93. 

Patrick of Ireland, 271-280. 
his hymn, 280. 

Paul, 11, 26, 34, 93, 99, 108, 132. 

Paula, 243. 

Paehmius, 131. 

Peacemaking, 81. 

" Pedagogue, The," 103 

PGriclcs 93, 

Persecutions, 19, 22, 32, 44, 53, 72, 80, 
121, 160, 179, 182, 234. 

Peter, 11, 13, 16, 26. 

Peterborough, Lord, 99. 

Piety, example of, 141,204, 222, 226, 
232, 257, 289. 
importance of early, 257, 274. 

Philosophy, schools of ancient, 62, 
96. 

Plague, 145. 



Plato, 65. 

Polycarp, 37, 40-56, 75. 

Pothiuus, 79. 

Prayer, by Chrysotom, 239, 

importance of, 276. 
Providence of God, examples of, 

44, 46, 237, 245, 252. 
Pythagoras, 65. 
Pome, 16, 82, 112, 218. 
Sayings of "Heroes," 34, 39, 55, 147, 

177, 183, 198, 223, 235. 
Scotland, 272, 281. 
Scourging Roman, 22. 
Self-denial, example of, 126, 225. 
"Septuagint," the, 251. 
Servants of God, how honored, 51. 

how cared for, 248, 250. 
Severus, 121. 
Shechem, 59. 
Smyrna, 40, 75, 77. 
Stridon in Dalmatia, 241, 
" Strom ata," 103. 
Sydney Smith, 118. 
Tagaste of Numidia, 256. 
"TeDeum," 221. 

Text Book, by Clement of Alex- 
andria, 103. 
Tertullian, 105-119. 
Theodora, 19. 

Traditions, 13, 16, 19, 21, 26, 66, 274. 
Trajan, 32. 

Trials, great in, 176, 181. 
Truth, defender of, 71, 171, 210, 222. 

diligence in communicating, 35, 
46, 98, 132, 208, 232, 285. 

fidelity to, example of, 131. 

follower of, 68, 176, 206. 

lives and acts, 118. 

seeking and finding the, 12, 46, 
61, 95, 264. 
Tryphon, 71. 
Usefulness, example of, 116, 207, 

218. 
Valerian, 146. 
Victor, 83. 

Vulgate Bible, 245, 251. 
Wesley, Charles, 100, 116, 264. 
Wisdom, lesson of practical, 28. 
Worker, earnest, example of, 85, 251. 
Worship, increase of interest in, 219. 
Writings of Athanasius, 186. 

of Basil, 211. 

of Origen, 133. 

of Patrick, 278. 

of Tertullian, 117. 
Young Christians, Origan's notes 

for, 134. 
Zeal of Chrysostom, 232, 
Zeno, 62, 



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